Brighter
by StillWaving
Summary: Naruto and Sasuke fight again and Sasuke gets sick. Naruto brings him back to Konoha in the hope that this time, maybe, he'll stay... SasuNaru Songfic to "brighter" by Paramore
1. So this is how it goes

**Alright well here's something I never thought I'd get back into… so yes after a hiatus that's lasted probably well over a year I've decided to edit, revamp and continue this little demon-bugger of a story. Updates will probably be super slow. I'm in college now, I'm doing things on my own, I'm growing up and doing new things. I'm busy too, I mean come on, everyone has to have some sort of life right? And many of my friends don't know that I even like anime… so there you go **

**anyway, to start off with, chapters are getting edited and reposted… they'll probably be longer, and different than you remember them being (at least by a little bit)… fair warning I do NOT keep up with the manga anymore (though I probably should try getting back into it…) so this story is ignoring probably many very important plot points and continuing from a rather obscure point that's probably totally irrelevant now…**

**Just a reminder this story is a songfic… only not… if you read all the chapter titles carefully it's the lyrics to "Brighter" by Paramore, the inspiration for this story. This is still my first super long fanfiction story so the whole thing is rather new to me.**

**Summary: basically, sasuke returns to konoha temporarily after losing a fight with naruto... he gets sick and the whole premise of the story is naruto's attempts at making him stay**

**Warning: Yaoi (SasuNaru), cursing, and maybe suggestive stuff later on… **

**Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, he and Sasuke would've been making out the whole show instead of fighting and being angsty… **

**Chapter 1: So this is how it goes…**

_Deep breaths, Sasuke, deep breaths. _The dark eyes stared at the almost empty night sky. The cuts on his body weren't fatally deep, but they were enough that he found himself unable to stand and support his own weight. He felt lightheaded and feverish, sick, almost to the point of throwing up. "Damnit," he muttered, continuing to breathe heavily. _Just breathe; deep breaths, Sasuke, deep breaths._

The stubborn, blood-stained, blonde looked up from his own position on the ground. He pushed himself onto his hands and knees and stared at Sasuke. "I told you, teme, you're coming home with me…"

Sasuke blinked, and sat in silence not even bothering to look at Naruto. After a few minutes of nothing but crickets, the occasional rustle, and the two boys equally heavy breaths he answered the blonde; "Konoha holds nothing for me anymore…"

"Damnit teme, you're such an idiot. Don't you know we fucking missed you? What about us? Don't you want to see us?" Naruto glared angrily at Sasuke, his voice sounding pained and stressed. Sasuke continued to look at the sky, and paid no attention to Naruto, or his pained voice. "You always did this…" Naruto said, lowering his voice even more and allowing pain to creep in farther, "You push away everything you've ever had, or have… just come _home_ Sasuke…" Naruto gave it up and swallowed his pride, "Please…"

Sasuke stared at the sky and watched the tears fall from Naruto's face out of the corner of his eye. If this was how it was going to be, he didn't know what he was supposed to say or do. He knew the reinforcements would come, probably Kakashi, Sakura, and Sai. Not to mention he was in no condition to fight them, or run away, Naruto had won this fight. Sasuke didn't understand why he was even bothering to ask him to come home, at this point he had no choice.

He felt the heat in his forehead increase again and he felt dizzy. He might as well accept he was leaving, and go with as little fighting as possible. The less injuries he sustained the sooner he'd heal, the sooner he could run away again, away from Konoha, and away from Naruto. He finally swallowed up his own pride and said the only thing he thought he could, "I missed you too Naruto…"

**Well there you have it chapter 1 again (yeah it's still short sorry, I'll try and make the next chapter longer… :\ but hey hope you re-enjoyed it….**


	2. Well I would have never know

**Alrighty well, I'm being a good girl and continuing with the "revamp" of this story… like I said the chapter will be a little different than you remember it being… probably a bit longer with little side anecdotes thrown in there just cuz I'm bored… :)**

**Summary: Sasuke and Naruto fought again and Sasuke gets sick, so Naruto brings him back to Konoha, in the hopes that he'll want to stay.**

**Warning: Yaoi (SasuNaru), cursing, and maybe suggestive stuff later on… and some stuff from later in the series has been ignored for purposes of this fanfiction and because I simply don't read Naruto anymore…. :)**

**Disclaimer: You think Masashi Kishimoto would give me Naruto for my birthday if I promised to take good care of him and feed him Ramen?**

**Chapter 2: Well I would have never known…**

Sasuke awoke feeling sore in just about every place he thought possible, and a few places he didn't think it was. He felt bruised and useless as he lay in the surprisingly warm hospital bed, and he felt himself wishing dearly that he could be anywhere but here. He lifted his head slightly and looked down to see Naruto asleep on a chair, with his head resting on the bed, a small smile on his light lips and looking so at peace.

Sasuke sighed and looked away from the sleeping blond. He didn't need it, Naruto looking after him. Even in this current, utterly pathetic, state he could take care of himself, and besides it was only a matter of time before _they_ came to get him. Naruto would just get hurt again, and knowing him that little detail didn't matter to him at all.

Sasuke looked back at the blond and took note of all the bandages he wore. There were ones all over his face and his right arm was in a cast. Plus Sasuke was sure there were plenty more underneath the stupid hospital outfit he was wearing. Despite this Sasuke could have sworn that the small smile was still plastered onto Naruto's face.

He sighed again and turned his back to the blond. He felt sleep and dizziness wash over him in one massive wave and he let himself fall back to sleep.

…..

Sasuke was surprised when he found himself actually sitting in a dream. It was rare for him to dream at all, but when they did happen it was even rarer for him to not realize he was dreaming, so, like usual, he took note of the fact that he was definitely asleep.

This was a rather boring dream; he couldn't help himself from thinking. He was sitting in a chair, injuries gone, in a dark stone room with one window. Sasuke snorted at the dull attitude of his subconscious and stood up to have a look around. Within a few minutes, well actually Sasuke wasn't sure how long it'd been since time is so wrong in dreams, he'd discovered that Naruto, of all people, was sitting in a dark corner of the room, practically invisible under the cover of the darkness.

Naruto looked at Sasuke warily and eyed him suspiciously, much to Sasuke's surprise. "Hn," came his usual eloquent conversation starter. That seemed to satisfy something within Naruto as he stood up, smiled, and hugged Sasuke very tightly. _Oh please no, _Sasuke internally begged, _even in my dreams I can't avoid this sentimental idiot_. He found himself unable to fight the hug off so he relaxed and just let it take place, but if he had to be honest that light, gentle, breathing on his neck felt sort of good, in a weird, totally messed up, kind of way.

Somewhere from the ceiling of the room he heard shouting and screaming. He couldn't make out what the voices were saying and it bothered him, so he closed his eyes and strained his ears to hear, the annoying blond still attached to him. When he opened his eyes again he found himself blinking in the bed in the bright hospital room, a warm heavy blanket wrapped very tightly around him, and the voices coming from the two very angry people next to him.

He shut his eyes again and groaned, the hug still fresh in his mind. _What the fuck was that?_

…**..**

"I'll be damned if I'm not here when he wakes up, old hag!"

"Don't talk to me that way, brat, you know you need to get back to your own hospital room!"

"I want to be here when he wakes up, why is that so hard for you to understand? Going deaf and senile in your old age?"

"I told you, brat, don't call me old!"

"And I told you, hag, don't call me a brat!"

Sasuke groaned into the pillow a little louder and reopened one of his eyes to watch the arguing pair of blonds.

"Sasuke!" Naruto shouted and ran over to the bed. Sasuke tried to glare at him but it gave him a headache so he stopped. Naruto gave him a worried look and kneeled down next to the bed. "Sasuke? You ok?" he asked, gently. "Hn…" came the quiet reply.

Naruto beamed at him, "Yup you're Sasuke alright!" Sasuke raised one eyebrow slightly at the silly grin on Naruto's face. He would've rolled his eyes if his head hadn't been throbbing so much. "Hn…" he grunted again at the idiot in front of him. Naruto continued to grin and stared affectionately at his best friend, "Welcome home buddy."

Sasuke closed his eyes again, let the warmth that this time seemed to come from within and began to fall into a, this time, dreamless sleep, part of him a little bit more relaxed and content.

…**.**

Naruto visited Sasuke's room often during the next few days. Most of the time he kneeled on the floor by the bed and grinned at Sasuke. Some days he'd sleep with his head on the bed and other days he'd return to his own hospital room. Tsunade often visited to check up on him and assist the doctors. Sakura visited and Sasuke was surprised to find that, unlike last time, she didn't attack him with hugs or tears. She simply said she was happy to see him. Kakashi even visited once (though he was later than he said he'd be…) and had given Sasuke a small smile, along with the usual crap of being happy he was back.

How could they be happy he was back? He had betrayed them. He supposed he could only expect forgiveness from them, but he still didn't want it. He thought he'd rather have them blame him, yell at him, _hate him_. This wasn't how they were supposed to act, but he knew that it was the only way they _could _act. He could see it in their eyes when they looked at him, they missed him, and they _loved _him, despite the fact that he didn't deserve it. They were all dumb like that.

How could he deserve it? He'd practically stomped all over their feelings and left, multiple times. He'd always run away when they came to get him, he never once even intended to come back to Konoha, and yet here he was. Naruto made him feel the worst, not that he often felt guilt. It was that damn grin that he always had. Sasuke didn't want Naruto to be happy for him; he didn't want to look at that smile. He wanted out, and the sooner they healed him, the sooner he could leave…

…

"You're a dumbass," the raven haired male said dully to the silver haired male opposite him.

"I'm not the one in the hospital."

"What does that have to do with my intelligence level?"

"Nevermind."

"Hn."

Kakashi stared at Sasuke intently. He hadn't expected the news to go over well but that didn't mean it wasn't annoying. He'd showed up late (that old lady needed a lot of help crossing the street!) and sat through Tsunade's short lecture, only to be told that he now, as punishment, had to break the um… "news" to Sasuke.

"You know you don't really have a choice," he tried to explain again. Sasuke stared at him with indifference, Kakashi had to figure it was only because glaring gave him a headache.

"And you think that matters? I won't do it and you and that Tsunade are both dumbasses for thinking I ever would."

"Look, it's either that or you stay in this hospital room for a very, very, _very_ long time…"

"Fine, if that's what it takes."

"Why are you that dead set against the idea Sasuke? It gets you out of this room."

"I will not, repeat will NOT live with Naruto!"

…**.**

Naruto 'hmphed' in his chair for about the thousandth time, Tsunade just repeated herself over and over again, and Naruto wanted a chance to talk to Sasuke, _without _her there.

"So, like I said," she continued, "Your chakra will be monitored at all times and you will not be permitted to leave Naruto's apartment for a few months, 'till we're certain you aren't running away again…" She gave Sasuke a warning look, daring him to challenge her and say otherwise. She made no point in hiding her obvious belief and expectation that he would try to run away again.

It had been a week since Sasuke and Naruto had entered the hospital and they were both informed that in another week's time they could leave. Naruto had of course taken the news very well and had grinned at the prospect of Sasuke staying with him, in the village. Sasuke fought not only Kakashi, but Sakura, Naruto and now Tsunade. He had groaned that his chakra would be monitored and controlled, meaning he couldn't escape and he had made extreme effort to voice his displeasure at the idea of living with that stupid, sentimental, naïve, over indulging, idiotic, dumbass blond. He wanted no part of it.

It all was one massive prick in his original plan. Not only did he have to deal with the dobe first, no. This also meant he'd have to be trusted first, then he could leave, which made things _that _much harder for him.

"Listen hag," Naruto cut in, interrupting not only Tsunade's lecture but Sasuke's train of thought as well, "I think he got the point, can _I_ talk to him now?" Tsunade caught the obvious hint, sighed, and took her leave. She gave Naruto a look of warning before she left, leaving him with an unsaid 'be careful.'

Once the door had shut Naruto turned and grinned at Sasuke again, "This'll be great, you'll be my roomie!" Like I don't spend more than enough time with you already …" "Wow! A whole sentence, I'm impressed" Naruto teased, smirking at the obviously peeved Sasuke, "You really are feeling better!"

"Hn…"

"Aww man, I killed it didn't I?"

Naruto and Sasuke continued the exchange (well mostly Naruto talked and Sasuke just 'hn'ed every now and again) for several minutes.

"Um, Sasuke?" Naruto interjected, suddenly more serious.

"Hn?"

"You are going to run away again aren't you…"

It wasn't a question. A simple, obvious and true, statement. Naruto's voice was quiet and calm as he spoke. "I never knew it would end up like this…" Naruto admitted, "I never even imagined that you'd be leaving, and I'd be left behind, asking… no _begging _you to stay with me…" Naruto's voice seemed almost bitter as he spoke to the floor.

"It's like this cruel and totally twisted irony. I always trying to catch up to you, and then you just left and there was nothing else. All I knew the entire time was that I _needed_ you back. It wasn't for Sakura, it wasn't for the village. It was all for me. I was still chasing you, trying to catch up. And you always kept outrunning me…"

Sasuke let the unspoken "until now" hang in the air and, despite himself, he looked at Naruto. "Dobe…" he said, just as quietly as Naruto. Naruto looked at him and a small, pathetic shadow of a smile appeared on his face. "I know…"

**So yeah re-upload being continued… don't get greedy updates will not always be this fast… my extended winter break is almost over and then it's back to college (no!) but yeah, some extended scenes and a few added ones as well (kinda wanted a dream in there…) but yeah so there's chapter 2 again :) thanks again to everyone who's been waiting for this story for so long… when I'm done with the revamp, I promise to try and continue with new chapters!**


	3. And if it ends today

**Wow I'm really bad at keeping up with this story XD Revamp continuing, It's almost summer break for me and I'll be done with my freshman year of college… holy shit, I feel old… o_O**

**Summary: Sasuke and Naruto fought again and Sasuke gets sick, so Naruto brings him back to Konoha, in the hopes that he'll want to stay.**

**Warning: Yaoi (SasuNaru), cursing, and maybe suggestive stuff later on… stuff from later in the series has been ignored for purposes of this fanfiction.**

**Disclaimer: So I asked Masashi Kishimoto for Naruto and he said no…. .:puts on a classic black burglar uniform:. Time for Plan B…**

**Chapter 3: And if it ends today…**

Though only 20 minutes or so had passed, Tsunade was still sitting by Sasuke's bed and the two of them continued talking as they had been; it was incredibly painful, minutes were turning into hours and Sasuke was finding it increasingly annoying. He was beginning to find that, after a time, it was becoming harder and harder for him to even speak and continue a conversation with the woman sitting in front of him. The news kept getting worse and worse and the more he was told the more he wished, with every fiber of his being, that she would leave him alone. _Just get out, just go. _He internally begged and pleaded, but, of course, he went unheard.

He couldn't believe what she was saying.

He thought of Itachi and everything that had happened between the two of them…

He considered carefully the news he had just discovered, the information he had just received…

He thought of Itachi again….

He simply couldn't believe it…

"_You're dying"_… dying, he was dying. Dying from the same thing that had been slowly killing Itachi (1).

If this, his life, all were to end today, or tomorrow…

The room was dark and, to Sasuke, it felt as though it was spinning. He felt the dizziness increase to the point of being unbearable and he put his head back down on the pillow, his eyes still wide and the wheels in his head still turning at an alarming rate.

"_Sasuke you and I need to discuss the situation at hand…" Tsunade had started. "What? About my injuries? They'll heal, and then I'll leave. What more is there to discuss?" he stated, annoyance and bitterness both etched in his voice. He didn't feel like talking, he was sick of all the questions people kept asking him, and the 'discussions' they kept insisting needed to happen._

"_This isn't about your injuries Sasuke, It's about a far more serious, and underlying issue. This is about you being sick…" Sasuke raised an eyebrow at the statement. He never got sick, and even if he was sick he'd probably just recover quickly like he always had, when he was little. "Hn…" he said noncommittally. Tsunade seemed irked by this and he saw her fingers twitch._

"_You don't get it do you Sasuke? You're _dying_… you're going to _die…_" she emphasized the word like it was the plague, hoping to get the point across to him. Sasuke pretended not to hear her, but inside his head was reeling. He was going to die, possibly before he did everything he needed to._

_He grunted at her and she seemed to take that as him understanding what she was saying, and wanting to be alone to think about it. She didn't give him what he wanted however and went on to explain the disease…_

_This was the part where he became hazy. According to her, he would begin to often suffer 'fits' which would 'cause his body to become extremely weak and would make it extremely difficult for him to move'. The insides of his body were getting weaker and everything would begin to shut down one by one. He was told that coughing up blood would be pretty uh… 'normal' for lack of better word. _

"_Sasuke…" Tsuande seemed to begin as an afterthought. "I'm going to guess that unless you die by some other cause…" Sasuke blinked and stared at her, "You have maybe 2 or 3 years to live…"_

_He looked at her and she could tell he was upset, despite the indifference on his face. _

_"Don't tell Naruto…" was the only request he made._

…**.**

"Damnit," Sasuke muttered, as he often did these past few days. Naruto watched him from his usual spot in the chair next to Sasuke's bed. They'd drugged him again, and both could tell he was feeling the effects.

"I hate this stuff…" Sasuke said bitterly, feeling weak and helpless.

"I know…" Naruto said, he too had to take the drugs often to help with his injuries. "But it helps…" Naruto offered. Sasuke ignored him and tried to sit up.

Naruto sighed, "You know you can't…" he said tiredly. Sasuke felt dizzy as he tried to raise himself up, but he ignored it. "Hn," came his usual reply.

Naruto barely stayed in his own room now, he ate, slept, and recovered in Sasuke's room and, while the two of them talked on occasion, they mostly stayed quiet. They'd be going to Naruto's apartment in a few weeks' time, where Sasuke would continue to heal, take medicine, and be monitored 24-7, much to his chagrin.

Sasuke fell back onto the pillows and groaned. The medicine always made him feel utterly exhausted, and he found he actually talked to Naruto_ more_ after they gave it to him, something he disapproved of for multiple reasons.

"Want some water?" Naruto asked from his position by the bed. Sasuke grunted a "thanks" and Naruto went to grab the water bottle off the table. He removed the cap and handed it to Sasuke.

"I'm not completely useless you know…"

Naruto grinned. "That's why I'm letting you hold the bottle yourself," he joked. Sasuke grunted his thanks again but found he couldn't lift the bottle.

Feeling rather unfortunately pathetic, he turned and looked over at Naruto. Rather than ask for help he merely pretended to change his mind, "Not thirsty…" he said, nodding towards the bottle. Damn if he'd let Naruto help him like some kind of pathetic child, he had far too much pride for that. Over the past few weeks he had to accept help more and more often from Naruto, especially while he was drugged, and it angered him. He hated the idea that he was relying on this stupid dobe, and goddamnit he was going to hold on to as much pride as he could.

A small, knowing smile fell onto Naruto's face, "Un-huh…" he uttered, his smile widening. Sasuke tried to glare at him, but as usual found it gave him a headache and stopped trying.

Naruto took the bottle and tilted it towards Sasuke. Sasuke raised an eyebrow and twitched from anger. The anger subsided however when a wave of thirst overtook him. He swallowed up his pride that, just moments ago, he had been clinging so desperately to, and drank from the bottle.

Naruto grinned at him. "See, teme, it's not so hard to depend on people every once in a while is it?"

Sasuke cringed. That pride he was so protective of, he was finding he swallowed it more and more nowadays. He looked at Naruto with an exasperated expression, "You have no idea…"

…..

He wasn't sure why but he swelled with pride just at the thought, but he didn't particularly care. It was never any trouble, and Sasuke's seemingly great reluctance almost made the process more enjoyable. It was never a burden to help him out, in fact Naruto loved it. He was finally playing the role of the best friend that he had missed for all those years.

The blonde dobe smiled at the sleeping raven-haired teme and felt that surging feeling of lightness and weightlessness coming from his insides again. Imagining being without Sasuke again seemed almost impossible, though still inevitable.

He didn't know what made him care so much, all he knew was that he did and in his bliss he didn't notice his hand subconsciously pick up the water bottle again, and he was oblivious still when he brought it to his lips and kissed the cap, the smile never once faltering on his face.

**(1) - :Spoiler Warning: ok yeah also later in the series after Sasuke beats Itachi, he is told that Itachi was sick and that was slowly killing him, which is why he wasn't at full health when Sasuke fought him… so yeah, that's the whole "Itachi was sick, now I'm sick…" thing… :)**

**Yay I updated! :) so yeah, a little bit of loveness there at the end (Naruto will help Sasuke some more later) oh and thank you to the amazingly fabulous people who reviewed! .:throws hearts at you:. 3 3**

**Dragonfire04: ****I shall try, and thank youz uber much, I'm glad you like it :)**

**Dragon77:**** I'm promising? Really? Yay! :)**

**Kitsune Katana****: I am very happy you think it's interesting, and I won't spoil that for you ;)**


	4. Well I'll still say that

**Ah gotta love rewrites… they take me just as long as updating new chapters do… and I never do that… whatever, rewrite of Chapter 4!**

**Summary: Sasuke and Naruto fought again and Sasuke gets sick, so Naruto brings him back to Konoha, in the hopes that he'll want to stay.**

**Warning: Yaoi (SasuNaru), cursing, and maybe suggestive stuff later on… oh and there are some spoilers to stuff much later in the series, and some stuff from later in the series has been ignored for purposes of this fanfiction. Some OOCness… sorry**

**Disclaimer: Masashi Kishimoto isn't getting laid, and is therefore unhappy, **_**that**_** is why he won't give me Naruto….**

**Chapter 4: Well I'll still say that…**

"Drugged again?" Naruto asked, staring at Sasuke calmly. "Hn…" came the usual, exhausted, reply.

Sasuke looked tired, in the worst sense of the word. There were small bags under his eyes and the usual 'fire' about him seemed to have been quite 'put out.'

Naruto stared calmly at Sasuke and tapped his fingers, to no particular tune, on the bed. He wasn't bored, just sort of 'at peace'.

Sasuke groaned uncomfortably as his stomach growled, pangs of hunger shooting up his body, and he looked over at Naruto, hoping he hadn't noticed. His prayers, of course, went unanswered.

"Hungry?" Naruto asked.

"No, my stomach often does that for no reason in particular." Naruto shrugged off the sarcastic remark and went out to go find food.

Sasuke sighed and stared blankly at the ceiling. It was abnormally quiet, not that it was loud when Naruto was around, the room just felt rather eerily quiet and empty without him in it.

Several minutes past and nothing happened. He could hear the clock ticking on the opposite wall, but other than that, no noises could be heard. He turned his head when he finally heard the doorknob turn, but rather than Naruto at the door he saw a very familiar head of silver hair and a face partially covered by a mask.

"Naruto said you were hungry…" he said indifferently as he shut the door behind him and set a bowl of mushy oatmeal on the bedside table.

"Where'd you send him?" asked Sasuke, sounding uninterested. He was getting the vague impression that Naruto was _forced_ to let Kakashi bring the food.

"Tsunade thought it best that Naruto leave you alone for a little while…" Kakashi answered curtly, sounding just as uninterested.

Sasuke stared at the bowl and didn't bother sitting up. "I get the impression you don't want to talk to me…" Kakashi admitted.

"Hn…"

"Want me to feed you?"

Sasuke glared at him, but stopped when it hurt his head. "I'm not hungry anymore."

Kakashi merely shrugged, "Figured."

"Tsunade says you need to talk…" Kakashi continued calmly, taking Sasuke, momentarily, by surprise, though he recovered quickly.

"I don't need _anything_, least of all something you and that old hag say I need…"

"No, she means you_ need_ to vent, not you _want_ to vent. Go ahead; it'll be good for you…" Sasuke closed his eyes and ignored Kakashi. "Just talk Sasuke…"

Sasuke sighed, "About what?"

"Anything," Kakashi shrugged. "The weather, Make Out Tactics, Naruto, whatever floats your boat."

"Hn…"

"Come on Sasuke, it doesn't even matter _what_ you're talking about, so long as you talk…"

"Well, I wouldn't know what the weather's like, I'm not allowed outside, I have no interest in your perverted books, and I do not want to talk about Naruto, _whatsoever_…"

Kakashi blinked and grinned.

"Wow I think that's a record length sentence for you Sasuke, you really are sick…" Sasuke rolled over, his back now facing Kakashi, and he shut his eyes, pretending to sleep.

"You're a terrible faker." Sasuke could feel the headache settling deep within his head again as he heard Kakashi sigh and stand up from the chair he'd sat in.

"I told her you wouldn't talk to anyone but Naruto…" Sasuke ignored the comment and continued to keep his back towards Kakashi.

He heard the door shut and voices muttering things he couldn't hear outside the door. He ignored them as best as he could and began thinking about what Kakashi had just said.

Naruto wasn't the only one he talked too. He'd talked to Kakashi didn't he? Even if it was for just a little while. He ignored Sakura, but so did the rest of the world. He ignored the doctors but that was only because they had nothing interesting to say…

Sasuke brooded on it for a little while until it gave him another headache and he felt the medicine bring on a new wave of tiredness. He rolled over and faced the door, ready to sleep until Naruto finally showed up again.

….

"Sorry Sasuke I—" "Forget it dobe, I don't really care…" Sasuke thought back to what Kakashi said and it irked him. He rolled back over and decided to ignore Naruto, and prove Kakashi wrong. He and that stupid old hag could think whatever they wanted but he did NOT only talk to Naruto.

Naruto tilted his head slightly, confused by Sasuke's actions but thought better then to ask him what was wrong. He sat, rather than his usual spot in the chair, on the bed by Sasuke's stomach and looked at the ceiling. "Get off dobe…" Sasuke stated from his position, back still facing the annoying blonde.

Naruto grinned, "Not till you tell me what's up."

Sasuke groaned and rolled over, "I just don't _want_ to talk dobe, why or why not is none of your business…" Naruto shrugged at the comment but didn't move from his position on top the bed.

"Still hungry?" Naruto asked after Sasuke's stomach gave a betraying growl. Sasuke grunted and muttered incoherently. "Didn't Kakashi bring you food?" Naruto asked, but when he received no reply he decided it would be best to let it drop for now.

He picked up the bowl and spoon and offered a spoonful to Sasuke. "I'm not that pathetic dobe—"

"Sasuke, you and I both know you can't do anything while on those drugs," Naruto retorted quickly.

Sasuke grunted again and sat up with Naruto's assistance, much to his chagrin, and he ate the bite of oatmeal.

….

"So what did Kakashi want?" Naruto finally decided to ask after Sasuke was about halfway through the bowl.

"Me to talk…"

Naruto grinned and laughed at this, "You? Talk? No wonder he left so soon!" Sasuke didn't particularly appreciate the laughter and continued to eat silently.

"Why'd he want you to talk?" Naruto continued, ignoring Sasuke's obvious attempts to avoid conversation.

"I swear Naruto; did you miss every lesson in socializing?" Naruto simply smiled at him and waited for an answer.

Sasuke sighed, he did that a lot lately. "Something about Tsunade being under the impression that I _need_ to vent about things. Honestly, what could I possibly have to vent about? I've been sitting in a freaking hospital bed, high on more drugs than I can count, listening to your obnoxious voice non-stop."

"Sounds like you had a lot to vent about, actually." Naruto smiled at him, though he did look a little hurt by the obnoxious voice comment.

"_I told her you wouldn't talk to anyone but Naruto…" _Sasuke quickly became irked again and he ignored the latest spoonful of oatmeal. Damnit, Naruto was NOT the only one he talked to, he was just here all the time, and he wouldn't go away until you answered his damn questions, but that didn't mean anything. The fact that he actually said anything didn't mean that Naruto was special; he definitely wasn't special, not at all. Damnit.

"You ok?" the annoying blonde in question asked, one eyebrow arched. The brooding raven bit onto the spoon and began eating silently again.

"Sasuke…?"

"Hn?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow and swallowed his latest mouthful of disgusting crap.

"No matter what the others say about you I still think…" Naruto cut his own sentence off short.

"What, dobe?" Sasuke asked, sounding harsher than he had intended to sound. Naruto twitched at the anger in the voice and didn't say anything. "Sorry…" Sasuke grunted quietly.

"Right, well…" Naruto looked at him, with a determined, however pained, look in his eye, "I'll still say that… you're my best friend and… I really am glad you're home…" Sasuke blinked. It irked him slightly that there was any pain hidden behind the determination at all and he sighed heavily, again.

"Forget it, dobe; I never cared about _their_ opinions anyway…" Naruto smiled at Sasuke's attempt to be nice. He grinned.

"Yeah."

….

Naruto continued to initiate conversations throughout the last dregs of the bowl until Sasuke felt another wave of exhaustion come over him. He felt himself sway slightly and he ignored the last spoonful of oatmeal in front of him, he wasn't hungry anymore anyway. He saw, through the haze his dizziness provided him, Naruto place the bowl on the bedside table again and move towards Sasuke, still seated on the bed.

"Tired?" he asked, his tone sounding interested, though why that would be interesting was anybody's guess.

"Hn…" he grunted quietly. He felt, thanks to yet another wave of dizziness, himself fall forward onto Naruto's chest. It felt hard, but still comfortable, and warm. He grunted into it. Naruto didn't comment on the strange position and simply let his friend stay there. Eventually he heard Sasuke's breathing even up, thanks to sleep, and he felt his own body relax.

"Dobe…" Sasuke muttered in his sleep, unmovable at this point.

Naruto smiled and replied with his own sigh. He knew Sasuke was tired and somewhat ticked off, so he let it be. After a while he found himself, with Sasuke still attached, sliding down onto the bed, and falling asleep himself.

Outside the door a figure watched the exchange, intrigued, and left, deciding to save their visit for another time.

**Yay Chapter 4… I find Sasuke's denial vaguely humorous… anyway just thought I'd mention that while these two are having fluffy love-filled moments they do NOT like each other yet. Sasuke's just highly drugged, hungry, and tired, Naruto happens to be his best friend **_**and **_**there to help him, they don't like each other **_**yet. **_**Alright just thought I'd throw that out there…**

**Oh and for those of you who want to know I think I've finally decided how I want this to end… so YAY me! Now to figure out what goes between now and then….**

**Thanks again to my fabulous reviewers, you get some love .:thows hearts again:. **

**Gaaralover1989**** – Merci beaucoup! :)**

**Dragon77**** – Alright, this update gets dedicated to you for being the first person to review twice :) congragulations .:throws extra hearts at you:. And once again, thank you for liking my story :)**


	5. You shined brighter than anyone

**Continuing to rewrite… taking forever… whoops :P**

**Summary: Sasuke and Naruto fought again and Sasuke gets sick, so Naruto brings him back to Konoha, in the hopes that he'll want to stay.**

**Warning: Yaoi (SasuNaru), cursing, and maybe suggestive stuff later on… spoilers and OOCness**

**Disclaimer: Masashi Kishimoto got mad about me saying he wasn't "getting any" so he locked up poor Naruto in a protective box… I'll save you Naruto! .:puts on a supergirl costume:.**

**Chapter 5: You shined brighter than anyone…**

Naruto never mentioned what happened the night before. Sasuke supposed he was grateful that the Blonde idiot really didn't give any evidence that anything had even happened at all. Truth be told he was a bit quieter than usual, but other than that no difference in his character hinted that anything strange or different had occurred the night before. For all he knew Naruto wasn't even _thinking_ about it.

Sasuke, however, thought angrily about what happened the night before. He didn't blame Naruto, of course, he blamed himself. It was these stupid drugs and these stupid beds, and it was his own fault for falling asleep on Naruto. He'd never clung to anyone since the Uchiha incident and he never had any intention of ever doing so. But he was grateful to Naruto for not mentioning it or hinting at it all, he was thinking about it enough for the two of them.

Naruto continued to help Sasuke perform daily tasks, such as eating and drinking, but the two of them mostly kept silent, which Sasuke appreciated. He thought back to all the things Naruto had done for him so far and how little he appreciated it, and realized, even more so, that Naruto really was looking after him. Sasuke didn't have to ask anymore and Naruto knew, to be honest it was a little freaky, like Naruto had some sort of Sasuke related ESP… but it was still useful to know that the dobe was honing in on whatever he wanted… which, as of right now, was to NOT talk about what had happened….

….

It was his last day in the hospital, or so he was told this morning. He looked around the room and took note of how familiar he'd become with everything.

There was the clock on the opposite wall that was always 3 minutes faster than the actual time, as Naruto had informed him. There was the disturbingly white bed, in which he spent all his time, talking to Naruto. There was the bed side table, on which the food was always set, until Naruto picked it up. There was a small table in another corner of the room where spare equipment was kept, as well as Naruto's bag. And lastly there was the old chair by the bed where Naruto sat, day after day.

Sasuke blinked at the, it was hard to imagine not being in this room, not having Naruto sit there grinning at him. That wasn't to say he always enjoyed Naruto's excessive visits but they were better than nothing.

He was beginning to take note of the fact that Naruto seemed to invade practically all of his thoughts lately, and it seemed to make him an even more broody Sasuke than normal. He was not happy about this upcoming revelation, like maybe, despite what he claimed to the contrary, he did like having Naruto around…

Sasuke sighed and turned over in the bed. He knew it was his last day to stay here, and he didn't know what kind of bed he'd be sleeping in for the next few months, while, he gulped and shook his head in defiance, staying with Naruto… until he could leave again, of course, he reminded himself almost too quickly.

He would be happiest, he supposed, in an attempt to think about something, _anything,_ but Naruto, to get away from Tsunade. Her insitance that he needed to vent/talk was starting to really irk him. She tried everyone, Kakashi, Sakura, and even Naruto admitted he'd been asked to do it a few times. He didn't care what they thought, he didn't want to talk about what happened… he didn't want to talk about Itachi… or Akatsuki… or Konoha… and he _especially_ did not want to talk about Naruto….

….

Naruto grinned at Sasuke from his usual chair by the bed. He was happy Sasuke would be getting out of the hospital and coming to stay with him for some time. He'd missed having Sasuke in Konoha and he couldn't wait to show him around, and remind him of what he'd left.

Naruto could tell Sasuke still intended to leave, and nothing he could say would change that, but he would still try. Try everything, say anything, and make Sasuke stay.

The blonde had taken note that, as of late, Sasuke seemed to be even more… moody than usual. It was like he had something on his mind that served as a constant irk to him, and curiosity couldn't help but knock in Naruto's mind. It had to be something pretty bad for Sasuke to be even more peeved than usual, though Naruto supposed he shouldn't let it bother him too much, this was Sasuke after all.

Naruto grinned further as he stared into Sasuke's face. Sasuke had always been the light of Naruto's life, ever since he came into it. Naruto was given a reason to try harder, to care more. He found a best friend in his hated team mate and he'd never admitted it. Sasuke had seemed, to Naruto, to have been like an almost brother for a while, but Naruto eventually felt like it was something more. Sasuke became Naruto's 'everything' just as plain and simple as that. Sasuke had run away, he had betrayed him, he had broken him, but Sasuke still shined brighter, to Naruto, than anyone else in the world.

That was why Naruto would make him stay, that's why Naruto would care. He'd do whatever he needed to if it meant the light of his life and his best friend would stay. Because when all the other lights went out, he did not want to be left in the dark….

"Naruto?"

"Hm?"

"I'm hungry…"

Naruto jumped out of whatever realm of imagination he'd just been in and he got up from his usual seat to go get the food off the bedside table. He sat on the bed and fed Sasuke as usual. Sasuke couldn't help wondering what had gotten Naruto so extremely distracted, and he had to admit those bright blue eyes boring into his, without even actually seeing him, disturbed him slightly.

"You'll be dining a bit different tonight…" Naruto said as gave Sasuke another spoonful of oatmeal, bring Sasuke out of his own musings.

"Good," Sasuke said bitterly, "I'm sick of this crappy oatmeal…"

Naruto laughed, "I still have to feed you mushy food… you know that right?" Sasuke 'hn'ed and continued to eat.

Sasuke paused and placed a hand on the pit of his stomach. It had suddenly started to ache and he felt a strange, sickening, sensation. His lungs started to burn so he coughed, hard, into his hand.

Naruto leapt forward from his seat and the bowl fell, and shattered, on the floor. "Sasuke!" he shouted, terrified by Sasuke's sudden fit of coughing. Sasuke lifted his hand away from his mouth to find it covered in his own blood…

**I know it's still not much longer… I tried but there's only so much I can fix or add….**

**Dragon77**** – once again thank you lots for your review, and I will try to keep updating quickly…**

**Gaaralover1989**** – that made me feel really good, thank you :) like you seriously made my whole day!**


	6. Now I think we're taking this too far

**Summary: Sasuke and Naruto fought again and Sasuke gets sick, so Naruto brings him back to Konoha, in the hopes that he'll want to stay.**

**Warning: Yaoi (SasuNaru), cursing, and maybe suggestive stuff later on… spoilers and OOCness… and Sasuke is kind of a jerk… poor Naruto… :(**

**Disclaimer: ****Masashi Kishimoto is so mean, like meaner than Sasuke is to Naruto mean… Why won't you give me Naruto!! .:cries:.**

**Chapter 6: Now I think we're taking this too far**

"Is he going to be alright, hag?" Naruto asked for about the millionth time since the incident.

"I told you, brat, don't call me a hag. And yes, he'll be fine. This actually will start occuring more and more and you need to conduct yourself better when it happens." Naruto knew she meant the broken bowl on the floor. Naruto stared at the floor and fidgeted with the bottom of his shirt and listened to Tsunade talk.

"When things like this happen, or when he has a sort of 'fit', in which he may go unconcious, I need you to NOT panic." She said.

"Just take him back to your home give him some of this," she handed him a medium sized bottle of pills, "You'll need to lay him down on a flat surface. Don't disturb him, and let him wake up on his own time, and give him whatever he wants when he wakes up; water, food, etc." Naruto nodded and tried his best to retain all this information.

"He may act a little…" Tsunade hesitated, trying to find a good word, "strange when he wakes up Naruto…" "Strange?" "Well he'll be extremely weak, he might not be able to move his body, at all, for several hours after he wakes up. He'll be very dependant on you to help him out and I expect you to do so to the best of your ability…"

Naruto blinked and nodded, "I'll try hag, but that's a lot of stuff to remember…"

Tsunade laughed at him and ruffled his hair, "Come on brat, it's for Sasuke and we all know you'll take good care of Sasuke…"

Naruto nodded and smiled up at her, "Always…"

…**.**

Sasuke felt perfectly fine when they finally were finished testing him. He was annoyed with them and wished they'd leave, they were giving him another headache. He groaned to himself and looked at all the monitors. Everything about him was normal, and he couldn't really understand why he'd suddenly coughed up blood. He remembered what Tsunade had said but didn't think he'd start doing anything so soon…

Naruto had been kept out of the room for a while and was being calmed down. If Sasuke had to be honest, he'd admit that, despite the fact he'd just coughed up blood, Naruto did sort of over react.

He found the room was quiet and empty despite the excess number of doctors and nurses. He couldn't understand why Naruto not being next to him made him feel lonely, but it did, and he _didn't_ like it.

He stared at the spot where Naruto usually sat and ignored everyone else in the room. He couldn't stop the slight ache he felt at Naruto not being there but he'd be damned if he didn't ignore it. He laid back down on the bed, turned his back to the crowd in the room and pretended to be asleep.

After a time the crowd began to diminish when they decided they would be getting nothing more out of Sasuke. He continued to lay in his position on the bed and pretended to still be sleeping.

Eventually everyone was gone and Sasuke was left to brood in silence. He thought back to his earlier feeling of emptiness. He glared at the wall, as though doing so would make him forget about Naruto, but it didn't work.

He wondered when they'd let Naruto come back in, he wasn't excited about it, it meant he'd have to face this new found need for Naruto's company. He muttered to himself and felt extremely annoyed with the world, Naruto, and himself.

"Damnit Naruto, just leave me alone already…"

"You know, talking to yourself isn't really healthy, you should stop it…" Came Naruto's voice from the direction of the door. Sasuke rolled over and stared at him. "Besides if you really don't want me to be around you then you should just say so already…"

Sasuke felt a little pang when he saw the expression on Naruto's face. It looked like he was torn between agony and confusion. Sasuke felt guilty and rolled back over. "Sorry…" he said quietly, "I didn't mean it…."

Naruto grinned at Sasuke, though he couldn't see it, and walked over to the bed. "Feeling better?" he asked, tilting his head at the figure on the bed. Sasuke didn't bother to roll over but he still answered, "Yeah, I guess…"

"Good," Naruto said sincerely. "You really did give me a scare Sasuke…" He added as an afterthought. Sasuke shrugged it off, "Yeah I noticed, the broken bowl on the floor wasn't a clue…"

Naruto's face turned red, "I didn't mean to drop it! I just freaked out, I mean come _on _Sasuke you had just coughed up _blood _god damnit, of course I was worried!" Naruto sounded mad but Sasuke continued to face the opposite wall, he would die before he let Naruto know he felt bad about scaring him.

"If you don't care what I think why don't you just tell me so!? You never tell me anything Sasuke, I worry about you and you don't give a damn what I think or feel, you're so fucking selfish and I'm sick of it!" Naruto's face turned redder and he just felt all his frustration from the past few weeks building up.

Sasuke could tell Naruto was angry but he wouldn't turn around. "Hn…" he said after a while. "Damnit Sasuke!"

"Look Naruto, if you're so unhappy around me why don't you just leave me be…" Sasuke hadn't meant for it to sound as mean as he had made it sound. He didn't mean that he actually didn't want Naruto around. He just thought that, maybe, if Naruto was only unhappy with him around, then maybe he shouldn't be around and Naruto would be happy…. He wanted Naruto to be happy, he didn't really understand why, but that's what he wanted…

He rolled over and looked at Naruto but immediately wished he hadn't. Narutos' face was red with anger and his eyes had become rather wet from tears Naruto was clearly fighting to hold back. Sasuke wanted to turn around again but he couldn't bring himself to do it. He just looked Naruto straight in the eye and tried to appoligize without speaking.

Naruto blinked at the look of guilt on Sasuke's face. He felt his anger slip away, as he hadn't actually meant to make Sauske feel bad, he'd just wanted to vent.

"Sorry…" Naruto muttered as the tears he'd been fighting started falling. "Sorry Sasuke…"

Sasuke felt even crappier, if that was possible, when Naruto started crying. "Damnit dobe, you'll get the bed wet." Naruto laughed and wiped his face. "Back to being Sasuke now?" Sasuke 'hn'ed in confirmation and Naruto grinned, his face still slightly red, and very wet.

_It didn't matter,_ Naruto decided to himself. Sasuke would just be himself, and Naruto decided that was the best way. He would try not to yell at him anymore. "I think I took that too far… sorry…"

"Don't be sorry, dobe, save it for someone who'll care…" Naruto smiled and fought back another surge of anger at the comment. He knew, somewhere deep down, that Sasuke wasn't trying to hurt him, it was his way of being nice.

"I better go…" Naruto said, "Tsunade said I should come back after 5 minutes and it's sorta been like 20 minutes…" Naruto laughed nervously at himself and stood up. "I'll see you when she's done chewing me out… then we'll get ready to leave…"

"Leave?" Sasuke asked. "Yeah… to my house… that is if you still want to come…"

Sasuke blinked, "Oh… right… well I'll take anything over this hospital room, so hurry up…" He rolled back over and listened to Naruto retreat from the room.

Naruto grinned as he walked to the door, Sasuke wasn't mad at him, and he found he wasn't really mad at Sasuke anymore. He shut the door behind him and made his way to Tsunade's office, in a better mood than he should have been in, considering what Tsunade would probably do to him for being late…

"Damnit dobe…" Sasuke said quietly to himself after he heard the door shut. "Why are you doing this to me… leave me the fuck alone…" He slammed the pillow on top of his head and a desperate effort to block Naruto out of his head, but it didn't work and he fell into an uneasy, dobe filled, sleep…

**OMG I'm sooooooo sorry that took so long to post, my isn't working how it should and won't let me post new chapters… so I can only post them when I find a different computer to do it on… SORRY!! So yeah… as promised this chapter is a little bit longer than usual… so enjoy!!**

**I do feel like the fight thing ended really ubruptly and some of you might not get it so I'll explain: ok Sasuke says mean things only because he thinks Naruto would be happier if he wasn't around. Naruto gets mad because he wants Sasuke to want him to be around and want him to be happy… so yeah… Naruto figured out near the end that Sasuke was doing exactly that (telling Naruto he wanted him around and be happy) but in his own way… so Naruto's not really mad anymore… just thought I'd clear that up…**

**Thanks to my reviewers:**

**Freexflyer**** – You didn't freak me out at all, I appreciated your comment immensly as you are the first one to have made actual specific comments on plot and characters. So yeah I really appreciated the comment so this whole chapter is dedicated to you…. Hope it doesn't make you quite so emotionally bursting as last time… :)**

**Gaaralover1989**** – wait, you're cheesy or I'm cheesy?? I'm confused… but anyway thanks for the comment and I'm happy I appear needy (??)**

**Rascal609****– hey sorry I missed your comment from the last chapter so I'll get you in this one, thanks for the review :)**


	7. Don't you know that

**Summary: Sasuke and Naruto fought again and Sasuke gets sick, so Naruto brings him back to Konoha, in the hopes that he'll want to stay.**

**Warning: Yaoi (SasuNaru), cursing, and maybe suggestive stuff later on… spoilers and OOCness… and mean Sasuke… sorry Naruto :(**

**Disclaimer: ****Masashi Kishimoto is being quite selfish, didn't his mother ever teach him to share!? Give me Naruto already!!**

**Chapter 6: Don't you know that**

Sasuke awoke to find himself inside a strange room that definatly was not, in any way shape or form, a hospital room. There were orange colored shirts thrown everywhere on the floor. There was a calender with… interestingly clothed woman on the wall. The bed he was on was horribly made (then again he'd just been sleeping on it) and all in all the room was a total mess.

Sasuke sighed to himself, you'd think that after years of living on his own Naruto would have learned to pick up his own apartment.

He sat up and looked around the room again. He found nothing that really held his interest except for a picture frame that was face down on a table.

He blinked at it and thought about picking it up. He wasn't sure what it was but something stopped him. It was like a small pain in his chest, not the kind he'd felt while he was sick, a different kind. He felt sad and guilty when he looked at the face down frame and he thought it would be better if he left it alone.

"So you're awake?" came a voice from the door. Sasuke turned his head and saw Naruto wearing grey sweatpants, a black t-shirt, and a bright orange apron. Sasuke raised his eyebrow at Naruto and Naruto simply shrugged and grinned.

"Want something to eat?" "I didn't know you could cook…" Sasuke said in a bored tone. Naruto grinned, "I had to eat somehow didn't I?"

Sasuke shrugged and followed Naruto to the kitchen where "extray-mushy-ramen" awaited him.

…**.**

Sasuke found the day went by surprisingly fast. He and Naruto ate, watched TV, talked, played some card games, and just enjoyed themselves for hours.

He found the simplicity of their enjoyment in itself amusing. Neither of them did anything extremely difficult. There were no missions, no problems. They simply 'hung out' and Sasuke actually found that he was enjoying himself.

He supposed that lately Naruto's company itself often made him happier, but the added joy of being out of that hospital just added to his happiness (the little that he actually had).

The sky had darkened long ago and, despite the amount of fun Naruto was having, he felt very ready for sleep. Naruto plopped himself onto the couch and began to make himself comfortable. He didn't mind sleeping in whatever he was wearing, he'd done it loads of times.

Sasuke gave Naruto a strange expression, a mixture between confusion and amusment. "Tired?" he asked smirking in a very familiar fashion at Naruto. "Well what do you think teme, we can't all be happy-hyper-active-homicidal-maniacs…"

Sasuke blinked and raised an eyebrow, "… wow you must be tired if that's the best you can come up with dobe…"

"Shut up teme, and let me sleep!" Naruto complained as he shut his eyes and tried to block out Sasuke.

"I'd rather talk to you…" Sasuke admitted reluctantly.

"Just find someway to entertain yourself…" Naruto said clearly drifting heavily out of conciousness.

Sasuke stared at Naruto for about five minutes till Naruto's breathing evened out. He knew Naruto would let him sleep in the actual bed again but he wasn't really tired and didn't really feel like going to sleep himself quite yet.

He knew Naruto was asleep and that he could do whatever he wanted now but he just continued to sit there and watch Naruto breath gently in and out.

"Go to be teme…" Naruto muttered quietly in his sleep.

"Talking in your sleep dobe? And you thought I had bad habits…" Sasuke joked, fully aware that Naruto was asleep and his insults didn't really mean anything.

"I don't mind your habits teme…" Naruto admitted, still fast asleep, his breathing still even. Sasuke blinked at Naruto.

"What?" he asked astonished. "You were just complaining about them earlier…"

"I know…" Naruto said simply, "I lied…"

"What else have you been lying about Naruto?" Sasuke asked suspiciously.

"Not much," Naruto shrugged. "I really did mean most everything I said…"

"_No matter what the others say about you I still think… I'll still say that… you're my best friend and… I really am glad you're home…"_

Sasuke remembered what Naruto had said and wondered if that too was true.

"Am I really… your best friend?" Sasuke asked, feeling a slight twinge of guilt.

"You always were, and you always will be…" Naruto said, without thinking of Sasuke's concious or guilt at all.

"I don't get you Naruto…" Sasuke said quietly, shaking his head.

"What don't you get?" Naruto asked simply, curiosity in his tone.

"Why you're so willing to accept people who did you wrong… why you still love them, even when they've hurt you… I just don't get it…"

"I care…" said Naruto simply as though it were a simple fact of life. "I think people deserve to have what they want, whether or not what they want is me is their decision, and it's a decision I have no right to make for them…."

Sasuke contemplated this for a minute. _"I think people deserve to have what they want…" _It was a simple statement. Naruto probably hadn't meant any specific case and yet Sasuke became curious about a specific case.

"What did you think I wanted…?"

Naruto, despite being asleep, seemed to think about the question for a moment. "You wanted revenge and you wanted power, and I wasn't about to stop you…" Naruto said after a while.

"What do you want Naruto…?"

He didn't know what made him ask it but he did, and while he regreted the question he was curious to know Naruto's answer.

For a moment Naruto was silent but after a few minutes. Eventually he answered in a small, quiet voice, and Sasuke had to strain to hear the small three letter word escape the blond's lips, "You…"

**Alright there you are chapter 7, I updated quickly to make up for my delay last time… enjoy…**

**Yeah admit it you've always imagined Naruto talking to himself in his sleep!!**

**Dragon77**** – glad you liked it, thanks for the comment, and here u go, I 'updated soon' :)**


	8. Its not this hard, no its not this hard

**Summary: …if you don't know by now that's sad…. Naruto and Sasuke fight again, Sasuke is sick, Naruto is keeping him in Konoha hoping that he'll stay…**

**Warning: Yaoi (SasuNaru), cursing, and maybe suggestive stuff later on… spoilers and OOCness… Confused Sasuke and Confused Naruto… yeah it's just one big confusion party…**

**Disclaimer: If Naruto were mine he would be getting laid a lot more than he is right now with Sasuke and ****Masashi Kishimoto… .:pouts:.**

**Chapter 8: It's not this hard, no it's not this hard**

"_What did you think I wanted…?" _

_Naruto, despite being asleep, seemed to think about the question for a moment. "You wanted revenge and you wanted power, and I wasn't about to stop you…" Naruto said after a while._

"_What do you want Naruto…?"_

_He didn't know what made him ask it but he did, and while he regreted the question he was curious to know Naruto's answer._

_For a moment Naruto was silent but after a few minutes. Eventually he answered in a small, quiet voice, and Sasuke had to strain to hear the small three letter word escape the blond's lips, "You…"_

"Me what…?" Sasuke asked feeling his face grow hot. He felt extremely thankful that Naruto was asleep and couldn't see him. _Though Naruto's being asleep is what got us into this mess in the first place…_

"Me to stay?" he asked. The sleeping Naruto simply shook his head, "No Sasuke, I only ever wanted you…"

Sasuke didn't know what to say, or how he should even feel about that. Naruto was his best friend at best, how could he 'want' him. He had to just mean he wanted him to stay.

"Quit talking in your sleep dobe, you're being annoying…" he said after a little while of brooding **(A/N: and blushing!!)**.

Sasuke stood up but stopped when he felt a tugging at his pants. He looked down at Naruto, still asleep, making a pathetic effort to keep him where he was. "I'm tired, dobe, let me go to bed…" _Your bed… _Sasuke thought with a pang.

"G'nigh teme…" Naruto slurred as he let go of Sasuke and rolled over. Sasuke stared at Naruto's back for a little while and sighed. He walked to the bedroom door but before he entered he stole a small glance back at Naruto's sleeping form.

"Good night… dobe…" he said quietly, positive that Naruto couldn't hear him, and he went to bed.

…**.**

As so often happened with Naruto Uzumaki, he was downright confused. It had started since they'd woken up but Sasuke wouldn't talk to him or look him in the eye or anything and Naruto felt like it was somehow his fault.

He'd decided against asking Sasuke what was the matter after he saw the expression on Sasuke's face when he first tried to ask.

Everytime they made eye contact Sasuke would look like he was in complete agony and utter confusion, and would quickly look away, as though hoping Naruto hadn't noticed. Naruto couldn't understand why either emotion had surfaced as he couldn't see that he'd done anything wrong.

Maybe Sasuke was mad that he'd fallen asleep first but that was pretty stupid… and it really wasn't the kind of thing that made Sasuke looked so pained and confused.

As didn't often happen to Sasuke Uchiha, he was downright confused.

He didn't know what to make of Naruto's comment, since Naruto clearly didn't remember and wasn't acting any different then normal. He mostly felt so confused because he wasn't sure that he disliked what Naruto had said.

This threw him off completely. He tought he'd be sickened by his best friend 'wanting' him but for some reason he felt relieved. He brushed it off as maybe he was glad Naruto simply didn't hate him but he knew, deep down, that that wasn't it….

"Sasuke what did I do…" came Naruto's quiet voice, interrupting his thoughts. Sasuke turned to look at him and looked away quickly.

He found if he did this Naruto often let it drop, he wasn't so lucky this time.

"Sasuke I need you to tell me what I did, you haven't talked to me all day…" Naruto sounded sad and it made Sasuke feel rather guilty.

Sasuke looked at Naruto and felt the same confusion he'd been feeling all day come up again.

"You didn't do anything wrong Naruto…" Sasuke said trying to dodge telling Naruto what he'd said in his sleep the night before.

"You're doing it again Sasuke…" Naruto complained, "You're shutting me out and you won't tell me what's wrong… I care… I want to know… it's not this hard Sasuke… just tell me why you're upset…"

Sasuke felt another pang of guilt wash through him and he looked at Naruto and sighed.

"You said…"

_Naruto was wrong_Sasuke thought as he turned around and stared at the wall, _this is hard…_

"Naruto you said you…wanted me…"

Sasuke didn't turn around to look at Naruto, he didn't need to. He could hear his breathing get shallow, he could hear the door slam as Naruto left the appartment, and when he finally did turn around he could see a few fresh tears soaking into the carpet. Sasuke didn't need to look at Naruto to tell that he should have kept his mouth shut….

**Omg I'm part of a C2 and I'm very very very very very happy so thank you to "Yaoi Pairings + NejiHina this" for adding my story :)**

**So sorry it's a little short, I promise when I do update next to make the chapter longer…**

**And I want to say sorry in advanced because I'm going to be away in North Carolina for a week and won't be able to post… and when I get back I will probably only add one chapter because I'm leaving again for a week/week and a half (I don't actually know…) and will be out of the country completely so yeah… updates are going to be slow for a little while, I'm really really uber sorry…**

**Freexflyer**** - sorry I missed your review last time so here's my response a chapter late: I will definatly try for road one… though u've made me a little nervous :P and uh thanks again for the long review full of helpful and very much wanted insight… so thank you lots :)**

**Gaaralvoer1989**** – thanks for the review and yes, lol, dearie you, glad you like the chapter**


	9. But If you take what's yours

**Summary: Wow… why don't you already know the summary?? Sasuke and Naruto fought again and Sasuke gets sick, so Naruto brings him back to Konoha, in the hopes that he'll want to stay.**

**Warning: Yaoi (SasuNaru), cursing, and maybe suggestive stuff later on… spoilers and OOCness… Confused and Upset Naruto and a very**_** very**_** obnoxious Kyuubi… poor Naruto… **

**Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto he and Sasuke would have gotten together ages ago… Way to be slow ****Masashi Kishimoto…**

**Chapter 9: But If You Take What's Yours….**

It wasn't until he felt a wave of complete pain wash over him that Naruto stopped running.

He leaned back against a wall, not knowing, or caring, where he was. He put his face towards the sky and let the steady beat of rain fall onto his face and cool him off.

He wasn't sure how much of the water on his face was rain, sweat, or even tears, but he could guess…

_How could I…? Sasuke's my best friend I couldn't… why would I… we're both guys… _

Naruto felt exhausted from the running in his mind, as opposed to the running he'd just finished physically doing. He squinted towards the sky and glared at the sky, as though that would some how release the anger he had towards himself.

He couldn't understand why he would say that… why he would 'want' Sasuke in any way other than as a best friend.

He was confused and lost and he had a distinct feeling that something other than what he said was hurting him.

He couldn't place what it could possibly be…

_You sure do know how to fuck up a relationship kit…_

"Shut up Kyuubi, I don't need this…"

Naruto tried to think again about what it was that really was bothering him about what he had said.

_You really can be quite the idiot kit, why do you talk in your sleep anyway?_

"I told you to shut up Kyuubi, I don't want to hear it right now, I'm trying to think…"

_What is there to think about kit? _

"Sasuke! What I said to him! What I'm going to do about it! Trust me Kyuubi the list goes on and on!"

_Just go back and tell him you were being stupid and didn't know what you were saying!_

Naruto blinked and didn't respond right away. Was that actually true?… did he want to take it back?

_Kit…? Kit you weren't serious… Kit you're an even bigger idiot than I originally thought…_

"I thought I told you to shut up Kyuubi…" Naruto said with an annoyed sigh.

_Kit just tell me; did you mean what you said in your sleep?_

"No… Yes… Well… I sorta don't really know…" Naruto said akwardly, rubbing his left hand on the back of his head. "I wish I didn't… but I actually feel like maybe I did mean it… and it doesn't really make me feel awful in any way…"

_Then what are you so damn upset about?_

"I don't _know _Kyuubi, that's what I'm _trying_ to figure out!" Naruto said, growing more and more irked with the fox demon.

He continued to stare at the sky, despite the rain now cascading into his eyes. "I don't know…" he repeated quietly, more to himself than to Kyuubi.

_Do you wish Sasuke felt the same?_

It seemed so out of the blue and it took Naruto a few seconds to register what Kyuubi had asked.

"Wish that… _Sasuke_!? Wanting Me??" Naruto felt stunned and then with a pang deep in his chest he realized that was it.

That was what was bothering him. "Kyuubi I…"

_Yes Kit?_

Naruto looked at the ground by his feet. He shifted from his sitting position and felt another wave of pain wash over him.

"Kyuubi I… I think I'm upset because…"

_Get on with it Kit… _Kyuubi growled impatiently.

"I think I wanted Sasuke to… I think I was upset because he didn't want… because he was upset and…"

Naruto buried his face in his arms and began to shake violently.

"Kyuubi I think I… I think I'm in _love _with Sasuke…."

…**.**

Sasuke felt like kicking himself a million times over. He felt so stupid. He should've kept his mouth shut and everything would have been fine. A simple "I can't believe you talk in your sleep" would have sufficed but NO! he had to open his fat ass mouth and tell Naruto what he'd said.

He also felt like he should've been more sensative to Naruto's feelings and looked at him when he said it, to show it actually didn't bother him at all… Instead he had turned around and acted like he hated Naruto.

He felt so guilty and stupid and he just hated himself for constantly hurting Naruto. He felt like he couldn't have inflicted any physical damage worse than this.

"Damnit, I'm such an idiot…"

He looked out the window in Naruto's bedroom towards the rain and couldn't help but think of Naruto sufferin out there.

"Damnit!" he shouted again as he heard it echo slightly off the walls.

He walked over to the bedside table and noticed the face down picture frame again. He knew Naruto would probably hate him even more if he knew what it was but curiosity got the better of him.

"Damnit Naruto… why are you such a nice idiot…?" Sasuke blinked back tears as he stared at his and Naruto's faces in the picture frames outside of the Ramen bar.

Naruto's grin was wide and his hair was as messy as it had ever been. His bright orange seemed to radiate outside the picture and it was in great contrast to Sasuke's blue shirt and sour expression.

He couldn't believe his eyes were watering but he'd be damned if he let them fall so he held them back. He found his fingers tracing the image of Naruto and he felt angry with both himself and Naruto.

"Idiot… I left you… I betrayed you… and you still kept a picture of me by you every night… dobe…"

"You should've taken everything that was mine and made it yours, the respect, the honor… I didn't need it… you threw everything away that was yours just for me… dobe…"

Sasuke slammed the picture down and heard the glass break but he didn't bother to pick it up again.

"Dobe…" he whispered as he imagined Naruto, upset in the rain, because of him, all because of him. "I feel like such an idiot…"

He touched his hand to a piece of glass that had moved away from the frame and he stared at it intently. "an idiot…"

He leaned his head down onto the cold table and continued to stroke the glass. "Idiot…"

He closed his eyes and saw Naruto's face grinning up at him from the picture. "Idiot…"

And for once since his family was murdered Sasuke began to cry.

**Sorry it took so long I was in North Carolina for CCC for a week so yeah… here u go… fair warning I can't update again for another like week and a half or so because I'm going to Latvia for a family reunion…. So sorry again guys I feel really really bad…**

**And uh yeah, Naruto has come to an important realization thanks to Kyuubi (I knew I liked Kyuubi :P) and Sasuke thinks he's an idiot… so yeah… now we just have to wait and see when Sasuke figures out both his and Naruto's feelings… oh the suspense!! Anyway hope you liked the chapter (I actually liked Naruto's part… but not really Sasuke's…. oh well….**

**Thanks to my reviewers and all the people who've favorited and alerted:**

**Shashuko the Paisley Maiden**** – I shall keep writing, and I'm very happy you enjoyed it, yeah Sasuke is an idiot, and I like to make things awkward, people tend to grow smarter from it! :)**

**Heihachi-Katayama**** – Well you've found it now, welcome to the crew, glad you like it! :)**

**Freexflyer**** – yay you're one of my favorite reviewers… but shh let's keep it between us ;) and you very much are a kind and true reviewer. Sweet I took a totally different road that wasn't even mentioned, 'cause I'm just cool like that ;)**


	10. And I take mine

**Summary: Why don't you know the summary yet?? Sasuke and Naruto fought again and Sasuke gets sick, so Naruto brings him back to Konoha, in the hopes that he'll want to stay.**

**Warning: Yaoi (SasuNaru), cursing, and maybe suggestive stuff later on… spoilers and OOCness… Naruto's really moody… and somebody is drunk….. QUESTIONABLE CONDUCT!!**

**Disclaimer: No wonder I don't own Naruto… I'm so mean to him and Sasuke o.o I'M SORRY!!**

**Chapter 10: And I take mine…**

He didn't know how he got there but at this point Naruto found he didn't really care either. He didn't care if the sake burned his throat, he didn't care if Sai was simply sitting there watching him with a single raised eyebrow, he didn't care that he was steadily become completely drunk, he just didn't care.

He took another sip of his drink and found himself swaying slightly. He didn't know, or care, how much he'd had to drink, he'd simply drink it till he couldn't think, or feel, anymore.

"Naruto… what's wrong??" Sai asked nervously from next to him, confusion obvious in his tone.

Naruto grunted and took another drink.

Sai sighed and grabbed the top of the bottle before Naruto could take another drink. "Naruto what's wrong with you?" he asked again, determination now in his voice to replace the confusion.

Naruto looked at him and then at the hand on the bottle. "Let go Sai…" he said quietly, not taking his eyes off the hand.

"Naruto I need you to tell me what's wrong, I want to help…" Sai said his hand twitching slightly. "Please?"

Naruto blinked, "No…"

"Was it a bond? I want to know Naruto, did someone hurt you? Did they break your bond?"

"No Sai damnit! _I _broke the bond, now give me back my damn drink!" Naruto shouted slapping Sai's hand off his drink.

Sai sighed again and this time put his hand on Naruto's arm, "Naruto tell me what happened…"

"I just did idiot!" Naruto growled shrugging off Sai's hand and drinking more of his sake.

"No you didn't Naruto, you _yelled_ at me, I want you to _tell _me what happened…" Sai wasn't asking anymore, he was demanding but even in his drunken state Naruto could still here the sincerity behind Sai's voice.

"I skrewed up Sai…"

"What did you skrew up Naruto?" Sai's voice was patient and understanding and Naruto found himself feeling relieved that someone was willing to listen without bias.

"I said something I shouldn't have and I upset him… and now I don't know what I'm supposed to do…"

"Are you afraid?"

"Of what?"

"Are you afraid of what you're supposed to do?"

"I told you Sai, I don't _know _what I'm supposed to do…"

"I think you do… I think you're just too afraid to do it…"

Naruto was becoming iritated with Sai's bluntness and he growled at him, "What's it matter to you? You're not the one who has to do it!"

Sai blinked and gave Naruto a look of disbelief, "I _care_ Naruto… that's why it matters, I care about you, and if you're upset, then I want to make you feel better…"

Naruto looked over at Sai and stared. Sai had said it like it was a simple statement, a fact of life, something everyone should know…

Naruto started shaking and he set down his bottle of sake. "But what am I supposed to do? I don't want to tell him how I feel…"

Sai placed his hand on Naruto's arm again. "Who, Naruto?"

Naruto looked at the hand and then at Sai, "Sasuke…"

Sai blinked and sighed. A small smile of relief came on his face, it was so simple and yet he could understand why Naruto was so upset.

Sai leaned in and hugged Naruto, keeping his one hand on Naruto's arm and rubbing his back with the other. "You're an idiot Naruto…" he chuckled slightly.

"I know…" Naruto said quietly, not resisting the hug at all.

"I know…" he repeated returning the hug as best he could in his state, burrying his face into Sai's shoulder. "I know…"

…**.**

Outside in the rain stood a lone figure watching the exchange through the glass of the bar. The figure was soaked dispite the thin looking coat on his shoulders. He wore no umbrella, hood, or hat, and his hair had become plastered to his face.

Sai leaning in seemed to happen in slow motion and Sauske blinked when Naruto didn't fight it. It seemed like Naruto was going to cry and Sasuke watched as Naruto returned the hug and bury his face into Sai.

Sasuke couldn't explain the pang in his chest and the strong ache he felt, but he knew it had nothing to do with his sickness.

He knew he was hurting because that wasn't him, Naruto wasn't hugging him, Naruto didn't have his face in Sasuke's shirt, Sasuke wasn't the one comforitng Naruto, Sasuke was the reason Naruto was crying. That's why it hurt. That's why…

Sasuke clutched the shirt where his heart was and gripped it tightly, that's why it hurt…

…**.**

"Feel better?" Sai asked after Naruto had cried a little on his shoulder. He could feel the head buried there nod and he smiled. "Good, I'm glad…"

Naruto lifted his head and looked at Sai, "Sorry 'bout that…"

"Naruto I don't particularly care how you feel better, as long as you do…

"Besides it's not like the world hasn't noticed you and Sasuke getting closer anyway."

"What!" Naruto said, his eyes widening as he stared at Sai. Sai didn't answer so Naruto calmed himself down abit and asked again, "When did you notice?"

Sai stared at Naruto and was slightly surprised by the look of worry and shock on his face. "Relax Naruto," he laughed a little bit, "I didn't see a whole lot, I saw you and him at the hospital, he fell asleep on you…"

Naruto thought for a moment and started to chuckle. "Ha, I remember that…" Naruto grinned, took another huge drink of sake, nearly finishing what would be his sixth bottle, and started laughing harder.

Sai felt a little confused when Naruto looked at him and continued laughing. "What's so funny?" Sai asked.

Naruto just hugged Sai again and kept laughing. "Naruto I think you've had a bit to much to drink…" Sai commented as he patted Naruto's back gently and tried not to sufficate in the hug.

Naruto shook his head and grabbed his drink again. He held up his bottle, "To fucked up relationships!" he toasted and kept laughing.

"Holy crap Naruto, what's wrong with you?" Sai asked still trying to breath in Naruto's death grip of a hug. He could smell all the sake Naruto had drunk and he coughed a little.

"Naruto I think I need to take you home, don't you think you outta lie down?"

"Sai you worry to much!" Naruto shouted, his words slightly slurred.

"Naruto you worry too little, c'mon I'll take you home with me…" Sai offered standing up and grabbing Naruto's arm to help him stand.

"Sai what do you plan to do at your house with me all drunk and loopy!?" Naruto asked wiggling his eyebrows.

"Naruto something's wrong with you…" Sai said simply and lifted Naruto out of the chair, taking the sake away from him.

Naruto stood up and let the sake be taken without a fight. He grinned up at Sai and leaned in. "But that's why I'm so great!" Naruto slurred and announced triumphantly.

"Sure Naruto… Sure…" Sai said trying to get Naruto to the door.

…**.**

Sasuke decided he was sick of the exchange as it seemed Naruto had reached his ultimate point of drunkenhood. **(A/N: drunkenhood, haha, is that even a word??) **He bounded in through the doors but went unnoticed by both Sai and Naruto.

…**.**

"Thanks Sai!" Naruto shouted leaning heavily on Sai, not noticing that Sasuke had now entered the bar.

"Shut up Naruto, and try standing on your own, you're too heavy…"

Naruto laughed and grinned leaning closer to Sai, "You're funny Sai!" he laughed.

Naruto stood up his tip toes and leaned in close to Sai's face, still not having noticed Sasuke. "Hilarious…" he whispered in an almost seductive tone. He kissed Sai on the cheek and kept whispering on his cheek. "So damn funny…"

Sai and Sasuke both blinked in disbelief at Naruto's behaviour.

"N-Naruto?" came Sasuke's voice from the door. Naruto and Sai both looked over, shock appearing on one, and not the other's face.

The 'other' started walking over to Sasuke and wiped his blond hair out of his face. "Care to join us teme?" he asked in the same voice he'd been using moments before.

"Naruto we need to get you home…"

"Home? What home? The teme doesn't have a home remember? The teme said that Konoha didn't hold anything for him! REMEMBER THAT TEME!?" Naruto yelled.

"Naruto shut up!" Sasuke shouted back, suddenly feeling weak at the outburts.

He felt the familiar burning in his lungs and he felt dizzy. "Shut up dobe, you don't know what I came to say… you don't know how I felt… how I feel… so shut up dobe!"

Sasuke continued to shout, not knowing what he was saying as he gripped his chest in an effort to stop the growing pain.

"Dobe…" he said weakly as he fell forward onto the floor, drifing between conciousness and unconciousness.

Naruto seemed to snap out of his drunken state when Sasuke hit the floor and Naruto ran forward, "Sasuke!"

Sasuke felt like he couldn't breath, couldn't see, couldn't move. He felt Naruto lift him and he felt water fall onto his face. Whether it was rain, sweat, tears, or sake he didn't know, but it was wet.

He felt himself enter a state of almost total unconciousness and the only thing he could hear was Naruto shouting at him from somewhere far away.

"Don't leave me Sasuke..."

His voice was distant… far away….

"Sasuke don't go…"

far away…

"Sasuke…"

far…

"Please…"

away…

**Hey I'm back from Latvia… but now I have a new internet connection and I still have no idea how this thing works…. .:sweatdrop:. But anyway thanks for being patient with me!! Oh and sorry bout the cliffhanger… I'm just mean like that :P**

**Ok yeah, this chap's extra long, I just love you all that much :P So yeah Naruto's kinda lost it because he's so drunk… so yeah he's a little mood swingy…. Poor Sai and Sasuke, what are they gonna do with him?! ;) (P.S. nobody should give Naruto alcohol… it's a bad idea :P)**

**Oh and how many people actually remembered that someone was at the door when Sasuke fell asleep on Naruto??**

**I want to thank everyone that read email frenzy… it's now like my most popular fic (after Brighter) and it's a oneshot o.O I honestly had no idea it would be that big…. So thanks guys!! :)**

**Thanks (as usual) to my reviewers, favorite adders, and alert adders, you really make my days happier :)**

**Freexflyer**** – but I did say I was going away (I went and checked cause I felt really guilty) yes the nights are less lonely when they're spent with another ;) and yes I'm very glad you edited your note, it means you care enough :)**

**Shashuko the Paisley Maiden**** – It's ok he was calling himself an idiot anyway :P and you know how I like to keep it awkward ;) and thank you, I had lots of fun in Latvia :D**

**Halskr**** – yeah a psyciatrist would do him some good….. :P**

**Dragon77**** – glad you liked it :)**


	11. Must we go there?

**Summary: This is really sad…. Do I really still have to type this?? …. Sasuke and Naruto fought again and Sasuke gets sick, so Naruto brings him back to Konoha, in the hopes that he'll want to stay.**

**Warning: Yaoi (SasuNaru), cursing, and maybe suggestive stuff later on… spoilers and OOCness… Awkwardness (u know I love me some awkwardness!) and uh Naruto's the jerk and Sasuke's the lonely confused person… haha, I'm so mean to them :P**

**Disclaimer: I don't think Naruto would be very happy if I owned him…. He'd probably get sick of all the .:cough:. Things .:cough:. I'd make him do with Sasuke…. But I think Sasuke would like it!! :)**

**Chapter 11: Must we go there?**

_Why won't you speak to me?_

_Why won't you look at me?_

_Why don't you say anything?_

_I can feel it in my chest again, that familiar hurt… that hurt I get when you hurt…_.

_You keep standing there, is it my fault? Is it my fault you're so sad?_

_I can't take that expression on your face… I put it there… I know I did…_

_Please tell me…_

_Blame me…_

_I want to know…_

"_Naruto say something…"_

_Naruto… talk to me…_

_Tell me it's my fault…_

_Please…_

"_Naruto…"_

"Yes?"

Sasuke opened his eyes and looked at Naruto hazily. He felt sore all over and couldn't remember why.

"What?" he asked confused, his voice cracking from lack of use.

"You called my name… what do you want?"

Sasuke blinked, he called Naruto's name? He felt confused and it gave him a headache to think about it…

"_Say something Naruto… Naruto…"_

Sasuke widened his eyes when he remembered his dream. He could feel the blood rushing to his face and he looked away from Naruto, embarassed.

"Bad dream?" Naruto asked, being too kind to mention Sasuke's blush.

"Hn…"

"Well if you're ok I'm going to lay down for a little while…"

Sasuke looked at him, did Naruto not want to be with him? Did Naruto actually hate him?

"Naruto...?"

Naruto blinked at the pained expression on Sasuke's face, he couldn't understand why he looked like that, but he didn't like that look.

"What's wrong Sasuke?" Naruto sighed

"Why are you leaving?"

Naruto blinked again. "…Sasuke I'm not leaving you… I just… you know… have sort of a… you know… hangover… and yeah…I want to sleep it off…"

Sasuke stared at Naruto intently. "A hangover?"

"You mean you don't remember?"

Flash. _Naruto walking towards him drunk._

Flash. _"Care to join us teme?"_

Flash_. Naruto yelling at him._

Flash. _"The teme doesn't have a home remember?...REMEMBER THAT TEME!!"_

Flash_. He snapped._

Flash. _"Naruto shut up!"_

Flash. _ "…you don't know what I came to say… you don't know how I felt… how I feel…"_

Flash. _He collapsed onto the floor._

Flash. _"Don't leave me Sasuke!"_

Flash_. Everything was dark…_

"Oh…" was all he could manage to say after he remembered the events of last night. Everything from Naruto and Sai hugging, to Naruto leaning in too close, Naruto kissed Sai, Naruto yelled at him, Naruto begged him to wake up…

"Yeah, Oh…" Naruto repeated and stood up from a chair he'd set up next to the bed.

Sasuke didn't get it. Naruto was acting so distant, like he was hurting sitting there by Sasuke.

Sasuke sat stunned at the retreating back. He listened as he heard the crunch of the couch when Naruto sat down. He couldn't understand.

Was Naruto mad at him for collapsing, mad at him for what he told him, was he still mad from before?

_Why won't you speak to me?_

_Why won't you look at me?_

_Why don't you say anything?_

Sasuke clutched at his chest as he so often did when he felt the pain come up. He could still see clearly the Naruto's retreating back…

_I can feel it in my chest again, that familiar hurt… that hurt I get when you hurt…_.

_You keep standing there, is it my fault? Is it my fault you're so sad?_

_I can't take that expression on your face… I put it there… I know I did…_

"It's all my fault… Naruto…" Sasuke gripped the shirt at his chest tighter and could feel water swell into his eyes.

_Please tell me…_

_Blame me…_

_I want to know…_

"Naruto say something…"

_Naruto… talk to me…_

_Tell me it's my fault…_

_Please…_

"Naruto…"

"Just you wait Naruto… as soon as I can move again I'm going to fix it… I'll fix it so you won't be sad anymore…" Sasuke stared at the door with absolute determination and started trying to move his legs.

…**.**

"Sai you better tell me right now damnit!" Sasuke shouted gripping Sai's shirt **(A/N: SHIRT!? You call that a shirt!?) **

"Sasuke I don't know what you're talking about…" Sai said one eye brow raised on his other wise blank face.

"I mean Naruto! What'd you do to him after I was knocked out!?" Sasuke demanded, already feeling weak from his movements.

He probably shouldn't have moved for another 5 or 6 hours, but he wasn't going to wait anymore, not when Naruto wouldn't look at him… not when Naruto wouldn't speak to him… not when Naruto looked like he was in so much pain… because of him…

"Tell me what happened to Naruto, Sai… please…" Sasuke begged, letting go of his pride for what felt like the millionth time since Naruto had come to get him months ago.

"Honestly Sasuke if you want answers that badly you're going to have to be more specific…"

"Specific!?" Sasuke shouted bewildered. "Specific about what!? What other instance could I be talking about!? Last night Sai!? After I passed out! What happened to Naruto!? Why won't he look at me!? Why won't he speak to me!? Why is he hurting so damn much Sai!? Why!! Tell me why damnit!!"

Sai blinked and smiled slightly at Sasuke. This wasn't the Sasuke they'd described to him, this wasn't the Sasuke that broke bonds, this was the one trying to save them.

"_No Sai damnit! I broke the bond, now give me back my damn drink!"_

Sai frowned. Naruto had already been upset before the incident. Sasuke knew that, so why did he think that…

"Oh…" Sai thought out loud after a while, "You want to know about _that_…"

"That?" Sasuke asked confused grabbing onto Sai's shirt **(A/N: .:cough:.) **again.

Sai smirked at Sasuke and Sasuke finally understood.

"You knew all along what I was talking about… You had every intention of telling me…" Sasuke looked up and glared at Sai, "You just wanted to know what kind of price you could lay on it…"

…**.**

Naruto really had no idea why Sasuke left the instant he could stand up on his own but he didn't mind. He wanted… no he needed his space anyway and was almost glad he'd left.

He lay back on the couch and shifted to make himself more comfortable. He knew it wasn't fair, and he knew he'd regret it later, but he needed to push Sasuke away right now.

He sighed and stared at the ceiling.

He really was being unfair towards Sasuke's feelings, now that he thought about it, he hadn't really considered how Sasuke would feel about the distancing.

Tsunade had said he'd need to be helped, he'd need Naruto more than ever when he woke up from collapsing but he just couldn't… he couldn't talk to Sasuke not after what he'd said after…. After what he did to Sasuke after he collapsed…. What he did….

Naruto shook his head, "No, I can't think of that right now, I can't."

Naruto sighed again, "Man I'm such an idiot…"

_Yeah you kind of are Kit… Now tell me something I don't know_

"Damnit Kyuubi… please go away…"

_Kit you said you loved him, why are you so determined to push him away?_

"Because Kyuubi."

_That's not an answer Kit, tell me why, if you love him so much, you're so willing to let him go…_

"It's not that simple Kyuubi…"

_Then explain it to me Kit…_

"I have to let him go _because _I love him…"

…**.**

"So what is it that you want from me?" Sasuke asked narrowing his eyes at Sai.

"Are you really that pathetically determined to find out what happened?" Sai asked a small smirk still on his lips.

"It's not pathetic, it's hurting Naruto and I want to fix it…" Sasuke spat.

"So the real question is what what do _you want_ to do for me?"

…**.**

Naruto slammed a couch pillow onto his head but decided it wasn't helping and stood up.

"Damn hangover…" he muttered angrily to himself.

_Your own fault for drinking so damn much last night Kit…_

"I didn't mean to get so carried away Kyuubi!"

Naruto walked into his room where Sasuke had been until recently.

"Wonder where he went…" Naruto said, more to himself than Kyuubi.

_Probably off being moody, I swear you and him are more alike then you realize…_

"Oh put a sock in it Kyuubi, who cares what you think…"

Naruto sat on his bed and threw his feet up. He layed down and rolled to bury his face in the pillow.

"It smells of you Sasuke…" he whispered as he inhaled the scent. "Please come home soon…"

…**.**

"I don't _want _to give you anything Sai, but Naruto needs me to so I will…"

Sai's smirk widened, "Good…"

…**.**

Naruto continued to inhale the scent of the pillow. It smelled so sweetly of Sasuke and Naruto couldn't help but stay there. He knew when Sasuke came back he'd probably want to sleep, in 'his' bed, but Naruto couldn't bring himself to get up and move back to the couch.

He still had a lingering headache but he found he could for the most part ignore it if he thought of other things, and the thing currently occupying his mind…

Naruto narrowed his eyes into the pillow, but the glare faded and he closed his eyes…

Yes he couldn't escape it… what he'd done to Sasuke… Sasuke couldn't ever know… Naruto wouldn't tell him… Sasuke would be better off if he never knew… what Naruto had… done… No… We mustn't go there… we must never go there… he must never know… what … I've… done….

Anybody who'd entered the room for the next few hours would fine a poor blond dobe, frowning in his sleep….

…**.**

"_Please…"_

_Naruto looked up at Sai, "Sai do something, we got to get him back to my place!"_

"_Calm down Naruto, we'll get him there, he'll be ok, trust me…" Sai smiled at Naruto and Naruto tried, and failed, to return it._

"_I just worry about him is all…"_

_Sai's smile widened, "I know… but you really should tell him…"_

"_I know I should…" Naruto replied softly, "But as you already pointed out… I'm terrified… I'm so afraid to tell him…"_

"_Just say it Naruto… He needs to know…"_

_Naruto sighed and stared at Sasuke pain apparent in his eyes. Sai could see the water begin to form for a second time in Naruto's eyes as he leaned in closer to Sasuke._

"_Come on Sasuke… I'll get you home…"_

_Sai stared at Naruto waiting patiently, knowing how important it was for Naruto to say it, even if Sasuke couldn't hear it._

"_Because… Sasuke… I…" Naruto paused and leaned in closer to Sasuke's face, so their noses were almost touching._

"_Sasuke I love you… so much I don't think I can stand it…" and with that Naruto kissed Sasuke gently on the lips and held him close to his own body._

"_Now let's get you home…" he said finally._

…**.**

"Now I expect you to keep your end of the deal…" Sai said.

Sasuke's shock was apparent, but it didn't seem so totally unexpected. He figured Naruto liked him… he knew somewhere inside that it was true… but Naruto said it… Naruto admitted it and Naruto…

Sasuke brought his hand up to his lips and tried to imagine the warmth Naruto's lips would have brought to them… how soft… how sweet he would have tasted….

Sasuke blinked and shoock his head.

Sai smirked knowingly at Sasuke, "Now about your end of the deal…"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes and glared at Sai, taking his hand away from his face. "You're a bastard…"

Sai's smirk widened further, "So I've been told…"

**My longest chapter yet (I didn't think It'd be longer than the last one o.O but here it is) and yeah sorry that so much happened, I just really wanted all this to happen so I could move on in the story (we've reached a new beginning and I'm very very happy!!)**

**Ok I realize this chapter has lots of slanty words… sorry… So yeah, they're there for dreams, memories, flashbacks, and flashbacks/memories of dreams… and yeah Sasuke is really OOC… but Tsunade did warn us that Sasuke would be really off when he woke up from collapsing! (I only put that in 'cause I knew I'd eventually want him out of wack…) either that or he's spurred into action by love!! .:sighs:. Wishful thinking…**

**Anyway, thanks as usual to my reviewers etc.**

**SasoriXreborN**** – Yay I'm glad you remembered (you've no idea how many hours were spent trying to figure out who to make the figure be --)**

**Freexflyer**** – haha, I really thought I was the only one that did that anymore! (I really do actually do that… my friends and family keep giving me funny looks --) and sorry I didn't make them do anything, Sasuke was too busy being unconcious and Sai was too busy giving himself mental high fives for getting kissed by Naruto ;) oh and you really don't scare me, I love your reviews, they really make my days :)**

**Izolda**** – yay, keep your excitement, and I hope this satisfied you! :)**

**Shashuko the Paisley Maiden**** – U know how I love me some awkwardness! And lol, yeah, that's also why I'm safe and drug/alchohol free (I'm already that crazy without any help…) and an asprin would be a good idea… :P**

**Mindless Instinct**** – glad you liked the idea! :)**


	12. Please not this time

**Summary: Why am I still typing the summary?…. Sasuke and Naruto fought again and Sasuke gets sick, so Naruto brings him back to Konoha, in the hopes that he'll want to stay.**

**Warning: Yaoi (SasuNaru), cursing, and maybe suggestive stuff later on… spoilers and OOCness… Um… I don't want to spoil it but let's say were finally getting to the "suggestive stuff later on…" ;)**

**Disclaimer: I totally own Naruto!! .:stands triumphantly in front of Naruto tied up in a corner:. In your face ****Masashi Kishimoto!! .:suddenly notices a japanese police officer outside my house with a photo of me and Naruto:. ….. crap….**

**Chapter 12: Please not this time**

"I feel disgusting…" Sasuke muttered to himself as he leaned his back against the wall of the apartment complex.

He looked at his hands and then brought them up to his lips as he had already done so many times that day.

He still couldn't imagine how Naruto's lips might have felt but he got excited when he thought of finding out, which just made him feel even more disgusting then he did before.

"_Now I expect you to keep your end of the deal…"_He heard Sai's voice echo in his head, and he could still see that smirk so clearly. . _"You're a bastard…" "So I've been told…"_

Sasuke felt sickened again as he thought of Sai, but in a different way than before.

He groaned as he thought of his 'end of the deal' and he felt disgusted with himself again.

"I don't want to do it… I don't want to hurt Naruto again… Please not this time…" he narrowed his eyes and glared.

"Damnit bastard, you're one cruel piece of fuck…" he muttered as he looked up to Naruto's window, wondering what Naruto could possibly be thinking of right now…

…**.**

"I feel disgusting…" Naruto muttered as he leant over the toilet to puke again.

_Well this tells you not to get drunk in the future now doesn't it?_

"Oh shut up Kyuubi…" Naruto muttered before another wave of nausia overtook him and he puked.

He grabbed a bucket from under the sink and went back to the bedroom. He didn't bother to turn off the lights as he went and sat on the bed again.

Sasuke's scent was starting to fade and become replaced with the smell of sweat and vomit but Naruto didn't care much now.

He missed the lingering traces of Sasuke's scent but he felt too sick to be bothered getting it back.

He was sorry Sasuke still hadn't returned, but there wasn't much he could do in this state.

"Nnn…" he groaned as he leaned over and puked into the bucket.

He couldn't stop himself from looking out the window and wondering what the teme was thinking about…

…**.**

_How many times do you plan on throwing up Kit?_

"It's not like I have any say in the matter Kyuubi…" Naruto said quietly, too worn out to argue with him.

He'd been sick for hours and he knew if he kept this up he'd be back in that stupid hospital for dehyrdation, and he couldn't do that to Sasuke, he had enough to worry about already.

Naruto thought back to last night as he lay down in the bed. He brought his fingers and lightly touched his lips.

Even while passed out Sasuke's lips had remained warm, and Naruto could fully remember the feel of their softness on his own lips.

He felt his face grow hot as he remembered the enjoyment that had coarsed through his body after he'd confessed his feelings to the unconcious teme, and… he gulped… the pleasure of the kiss…

_Imagine how much better it'll be when he's awake… _Kyuubi said without much thought to Naruto's embarassment.

Naruto felt his face go completely red and he doubted he'd have blood anywhere else in his body. "K-K-Kyuubi!!" Naruto whined, "Don't say things like that!"

Kyuubi smirked.

_Admit it, you've been thinking about that ever since you did it…_

"I most certainly have not!" Naruto pouted, crossing his arms defiantly, and blushing furiously.

_Have so…_

"Have Not!"

_This is getting now where Kit…_

"You started it baka!!"

_Sheesh Kit, you're so immature…_

"I'm immature?!" Naruto shouted, feeling irked, but also feeling, much to his surprise and gratitude, better than he did before.

"Damnit Kyuubi you're annoying!!" Naruto started throwing pillows and other items around the room as he shouted at Kyuubi.

_Welcome Kit…_ Kyuubi said, as though reading Naruto's mind… which he sort of was…

"Shut up Kyuubi, I wasn't thanking you for anything!!"

…**.**

Sasuke looked up as he heard sounds of banging and yelling from Naruto's room.

"Probably Kyuubi again…" he sighed, beginning to head for the door. "It's probably about time I kept my end of the deal anyway…" he groaned as he thought of Sai again.

"_So what do you want exactly?"_

"_Well you can do it however you want to, I don't really care what methods as long as it gets done…"_

"_That does me no good if you don't tell me what the hell I'm _supposed to do…"

"_I want you to seduce Naruto…" Sasuke blinked and stared bewildered at Sai, "And then I want you to dump him cold…"_

**Ok I realize it was a bit short… but there's not much I can do, all the other stuff I need to do will all be in a different chapter from this one… so I promise the next chapter'll be lots longer!! I'M SORRY IT'S SO SHORT!!**

**Thanks to my reviewers etc.:**

**Shashuko the Paisley Maiden**** - …. OH THAT TOUCHED ME!! .:glomps you and cries dramatically:. I'm so happy to be your weekly dose of awesomeness and awkwardness and awesome awkwardness!!**

**Izolda**** – yeah they suck… oh wait… I wrote it…. -.- SORRY!! But it had to be done… in fact I sorta did it again didn't I…. oops….**

**Dragon77**** – glad you looked forward to it, hope this met your expectations, even if it is short….. oops….. -.-**

**Once again I'm really sorry it's so short :( I didn't mean for that to happen….**


	13. No not this time

**Summary: I'm getting really tired of typing this thing…. Sasuke and Naruto fought again and Sasuke gets sick, so Naruto brings him back to Konoha, in the hopes that he'll want to stay.**

**Warning: Yaoi (SasuNaru), cursing, and maybe suggestive stuff later on… spoilers and OOCness… Um… Yeah we're definitely at the suggestive stuff…. LOTS OF IT!!**

**Disclaimer: If I said I owned Naruto I'd be a liar and I'd become a juvenile delinquent because Naruto is copywrited by ****Masashi Kishimoto .:eyes water and glances nervously at M. Kishimoto who's holding a gun to my head and telling me to say that Naruto's not mine:.**

**Chapter 13: No Not this time**

Sasuke sighed as he walked up the stairs, dreading each step he took that drew him closer to Naruto and what he'd have to do…

"_I want you to seduce Naruto… then dump him cold…" _

He didn't think he could live with himself if he did either… especially knowing that Naruto loved him and that he'd be hurting Naruto so much more if he did it….

He supposed that was the part that got him the most worked up, he asked what had happened because he wanted to help Naruto, not hurt him, and Sai's idea of a good joke was causing Naruto more pain then he already…

Well Sai probably had his reasons… no matter how fucked up they were…

Sasuke sighed again and decided he didn't care what Sai's reasons were, he was still one big piece of shit, and right after Sasuke completed his end of the deal he was going to murder him…

…**.**

"Kyuubi you're a fucking bastard!" Naruto shouted, smashing a pillow onto his head, "Leave me alone!... Stop saying stuff like that!"

"Naruto what in god's name do you think you're doing?"

Naruto shot up from his position on the bed and found himself staring wide eyed at a confused looking Sasuke.

"Sorry…" he said, his face turning slightly pink, "Kyuubi was… being Kyuubi…" Naruto looked embarassed and flustered, and Sasuke could only imagine why.

_Well look who arrived right on time, now you can find out how it feels when he's awake…_

"Kyuubi what the Fuck!?" Naruto demanded his face turning a bright shade of red, as he tried to, in a fit of embarassment, bury his face in the pillow again.

Sasuke blinked and stepped forward. "What's Kyuubi saying Naruto?"

Naruto's face remained red and he avoided looking at Sasuke, "None of your business Sasuke…"

"It's probably something only _you _would get worked up over dobe…"

"It's not like that! Anyone would dislike it if Kyuubi was telling them to…. Oh never mind teme, what do you care anyway?"

Sasuke walked towards Naruto, who was still sitting on the bed, and he leaned in. "That's not fair Naruto, I care…"

Naruto's face turned an even brighter shade of red and he became flustered, "What the hell teme! Ever heard of the personal bubble!?" Naruto pushed Sasuke away slightly and turned himself around as much as he could.

"So what was Kyuubi saying Naruto?" Sasuke asked again, leaning in.

_How many guesses Sasuke already knows…_

"_No shit Kyuubi…"_

"S-Sasuke, what the hell are you doing?"

"I asked you a question Naruto…"

"Yeah teme, and I don't care, back off ok?..." Naruto stood up from the bed and started walking away from Sasuke, slamming the door behind him as he went.

Sasuke sighed as he heard the door shut, "I'm getting now where fast…" he complained to himself.

He looked at the door and stared momentarily before heading over to it. "I just need to get this over with… The sooner it's done the sooner I can get back at Sai…"

…**.**

Naruto fumed silently, arms crossed, on the couch.

_I don't know what you're complaining about Kit, isn't this what you wanted?_

Naruto blinked and blushed, "This is most assuredly _not _what I wanted!" he shouted at Kyuubi, forgetting to say it in his head.

"I just want Sasuke… to be happy… and if he's happy with me then… well _that's _what I want… not an invasion of my personal space," he spat the last part and glared in the direction of his bedroom.

"Oh Naruto your words hurt…" Sasuke chuckled shutting the bedroom door behind him.

He stepped forward and leaned in from behind the couch and breathed in Naruto's ear. "I like invading your space…"

"I thought _I _was bad when I was drunk…" Naruto spat sarcastically, trying to ignore the steady breath on his neck.

"You think I'm drunk?" Sasuke chuckled. "Poor little Naruto, can't handle the situation can you?..." Sasuke smirked and continued to breath down Naruto's neck.

"That's not fair! I'm the next hokage I can handle any situation they throw at me!"

Sasuke chuckled again and wrapped his arms around Naruto's neck. "Good…"

"Whoa!" Naruto shouted jumping up, "Personal bubble Sasuke!"

Sasuke grabbed Naruto's arm and pulled him back onto the couch. "Stop squirming…"

"S-Sasuke, what's wrong with you? You're not acting like yourself…" Naruto closed his eyes and tried his best to pull away.

"_That's just it Naruto… I'm acting…" _Sasuke winced at himself mentally.

"I said stop…" he said darkly, gripping Naruto tighter and hugging him from behind again. "Stop squirming Naruto…" Sasuke turned his voice more seductive, "I just wanna play…"

"Some game…" Naruto spat, becoming angry with Sasuke, "I don't wanna play Sasuke… stop it… please"

"Sorry Naruto, I can't…" Naruto's eyes widened and he stopped trying to get away, "W-What?"

"I can't stop Naruto, not when I love you so much…" he buried his face into the croock of Naruto's neck, "I need this Naruto… give it to me… let me play…"

Naruto stopped fighting completely and sighed, "Is it what you want?"

"_I think people deserve to have what they want…"_

"Yes Naruto…what I want… is you…" Sasuke started kissing Naruto's neck, and as time passed it became more and more heated. Naruto didn't fuss, Naruto didn't move… it was like time had stopped and was letting Sasuke do as he pleased… not that he gained any pleasure from it.

Sasuke argued with himself mentally, he hated himself and he felt so utterly sick from what he was doing to Naruto… it wasn't fair to him or Naruto for things to happen this way… Sasuke blinked at himself and mentally shook his head, no… I wouldn't do this to Naruto even if I wanted to… he's just my best friend… that's it… who's totally in love with me… well fuck…

The kissing momentarily stopped as Sasuke had his internal battle and it left Naruto some time to have one of his own… with Kyuubi…

_Admit it kit you like it…_

"_I most assuredly do _not _like it!"_

_I say you do, try kissing him back, then you'll both make up for the unconcious-kissing thing…_

"_I don't give a damn anymore Kyuubi…"_

In the momentary pause Naruto stood up and went back to the bedroom, leaving behind a rather confused Sasuke, who, of course, stood up straight and followed him.

"Sasuke is it necessary for you to follow me around?" Naruto asked, sounding frustrated and tired.

"Yes when you're in _my _bed Naruto…"

"_Your _bed? I kinda thought everything in this apartment belonged to me because, oh yeah, _I _pay the bills…"

"Alright, if you insist, you may share the bed with me…" Sasuke said leaning over Naruto again and knocking them both onto the bed.

"I told you Naruto, this is what I want… now let me play…"

Naruto sighed as he pushed his upper body up and kissed Sasuke lightly on the lips, "You win teme, I'll play your stupid game… but that doesn't mean I like you!"

Sasuke smirked, "Yeah, yeah, I know, I know…"

…**.**

Sasuke breathed heavily as he looked over at Naruto, fast asleep on the right side of the bed.

If he were to admit to himself, which he wouldn't do because it would make him feel more like a piece of shit than he already did, he would say he had… 'liked' it… but he'd never say it… not to himself… not to Naruto… not to anyone…

"I'm sorry…" he whispered quietly, shaking slightly, trying not to cry… he was done crying…

"I forgive you…" Naruto said just as quietly, still asleep on his side of the bed.

"Why Naruto? Why do you keep forgiving me…?" Sasuke asked, not really wanting to know the answer.

"Because I love you…"

Sasuke blinked and continued trying to fight back tears as he stood up from the bed, quietly and carefully, so he wouldn't wake Naruto.

He went and fetched a piece of paper and a pen and began writing to Naruto.

_Dear Naruto;_

_I'm sorry Naruto but you don't win this time, the game is over and I'm saying goodbye… I just need you to know, that I leave with absolutely no regrets, I got everything I wanted from you, and last night was the final thing on my list, think of it as a goodbye present… oh and stop chasing after me… I'm done with you…_

_From Sasuke_

Sasuke blinked and couldn't stop a few tears from dripping down onto the paper…

"I'm so so sorry Naruto…" he cried, shaking as he sat on the bed, laying the note next to the broken picture frame. **(A/N: see chapter 9) **

"I told you, teme, I'll always forgive you…"

"I don't know that you will this time…" Sasuke said sadly, staring at the note… the note he didn't want to write…

"I always will Sasuke… I told you… I love you…"

Sasuke leaned over Naruto and kissed him lightly on the forehead, letting the last bit of strength leave him.

He stood up and began walking towards the door, ready to leave Naruto's apartment for good.

"Me too dobe… I… I love you too…"

**Well there you have it! Kyuubi is very dirty minded and poor Naruto suffers for it :P …. And Sasuke finally admits out loud that he's in love with Naruto….oh and poor Sasuke and Naruto!! Oh wait it's my fault…. Curse me!! Sorry if it seemed to all happen very quickly (Sasuke comes and immediately tries to do his 'end of the deal') but I needed it to happen and it's my story… so there :P …. Oh and Naruto likes his personal bubble…. For future referance ;)**

**Oh and sorry it took a little while, I have last minute summer homework I have to do before Sep. 2****nd**** so yeah… I'm a little short on time… and yeah when school starts I think you all deserve fair warning that I have no idea when updates will come because I've signed up for a lot of higher level classes (mostly Ap classes, which give me college credit… yay!) so yeah… I sorry :(**

**Thanks to my reviewers etc. I had a record number for the last chapter and I was very happy!! :) …. And you all basically said the same thing :P**

**Dragon77**** – here you go, this is how it turns out :P**

**Dominican Kitsune**** – Sai is a very cruel individual, and I feel bad for Naruto too! … oh wait… I did that to him…. Oops -.-**

**ShioriAyano**** – haha, I can't help but make them cliffhangers, but it's true that they hook people in :P**

**Shashuko the Paisley Maiden**** – man Sai is being insulted right and left :P And YES! AWKWARD!... Yeah Sasuke probably hates Sai more than he already did :P …. I thought about your suggestion and decided against it… sowwy :P …. Who's kidomaru? Well thank-you to whoever that is :P And I have every intention of continuing to write this**

**Halskr**** – you people are horribly violent and cruel towards Sai :P**

**freexflyer**** – o.O that's now awarded the most violent reaction I've seen towards Sai so far o.o my goodness…. .:laughs nervously:. Remind me never to make you mad at me….**

**SasoriXreborN**** – another death wish .:sighs dramatically:. Poor Sai…. Well not really….**


	14. Well this is not your fault

**Summary: I'm getting really tired of typing this thing…. Sasuke and Naruto fought again and Sasuke gets sick, so Naruto brings him back to Konoha, in the hopes that he'll want to stay.**

**Warning: Yaoi (SasuNaru), cursing, and maybe suggestive stuff later on… spoilers and OOCness… Um… **

**Disclaimer: .:is still traumatized about being held at gunpoint in the last chapter's disclaimer:. Oh Naruto…. WHY CAN'T I OWN YOU!!**

**Chapter 14: Well this is not your fault**

Sai sat on the roof of some old building in the middle of town. He could hear people talking from below, but he didn't care what they were saying.

He felt miserable, he felt sick, and he hated himself completely because he knew it was his own fault he felt that way.

He had watched Naruto's apartment room and he knew without having to look in what was happening when the lights in his room went out.

He felt disgusting, and he guessed Sasuke probably felt about the same, how could he not, he had to actually do it… the thing he, Sai, was making him do… to poor Naruto.

Sai thought about Naruto… that bright blond hair… those startling blue eyes… that stupid goofy looking grin… that was his favorite part… Naruto's smile….

"Aw damnit…" he muttered sadly, shaking his head and resting it on his knees, which were curled up to his chest.

"What's up Sai, you look like the world's about to end…" came a light voice from next to him on the roof.

"Sakura?" Sai sat up and looked at her, eyes wide. "When did you get there?"

"Just did… what's up?" she asked again, looking at him concerned. "You really do look like the world's come crashing down on you…"

He sighed and placed his head on his knees again, "It might as well have… I just broke one of Naruto's 'bonds'…" he said solemnly.

"You wanna tell me all about it?"

"You probably won't leave until I do anyway…"

Sakura grinned at him and then let it shift into a smirk, "Yup!"

…**.**

Naruto stared at the letter on top of the broken glass, he wondered how it got broken, but only vaguely in the corner of his mind.

He looked at the letter, he'd read it over and over again, but he still felt like he couldn't understand it.

…_I just need you to know, that I leave with absolutely no regrets, I got everything I wanted from you…I'm done with you……_

He blinked and looked at the name at the bottom, the signiture… Sasuke's signiture.

He knew he should be upset, he knew he should break down and cry, but he couldn't. He stared and stared at the letter, he knew what the contents meant, he knew what Sasuke intended them to mean, sitting on top of the broken picture frame… but they didn't mean that….

Naruto knew Sasuke didn't mean what he wrote on the paper, because despite everything Sasuke had said and done, Naruto still saw the water stains, two on the bottom of the paper, tears that a regretless goodbye could never cause…

…**.**

"Falcon?" Sakura repeated, her eyebrows raised. "What's Falcon?" **(1)**

"I told you flat-chest, that's what the group of people called themselves…" Sai said, sounding irked.

"But what did this group want?"

"They were the one's that told me to break up Sasuke and Naruto…"

…**.**

Sasuke wandered the street, feeling empty in a place that was never meant to be empty.

He felt the familiar sick feeling, placed his hand on his heart, removed it, and otherwise payed it no mind.

He didn't care if it hurt anymore, Naruto was hurting worse.

He hadn't been able to stop the excessive and periodic flow of tears from his eyes. He'd wipe them away and avoid a main road to the best of his ability. He felt rotten, but somewhere inside him he felt happy too, he knew it… he knew he loved him… he knew he loved Naruto… so much that it hurt, almost as much as it hurt to watch Naruto hurt…

But he was ok with the hurt, because he loved him… and he hated Sai. Sasuke glared at the ground, as he imagined that awful smirk for about the millionth time since he'd asked Sai what was wrong with Naruto… after Sai told him what Naruto said… how Naruto felt…

Naruto loved him back, and kissed him… kissed him with so much love… and Sasuke had kissed him that night…. Sasuke hated himself for it… for kissing Naruto while feeling nothing but hatred… Naruto didn't deserve that…

"I swear to god Sai, when I find you I'm going to kill you…"

…**.**

"So they told you to make Sasuke break up with Naruto… but why'd you add the other part then?" Sakura asked, unable to figure out why Sai insited Sasuke seduce Naruto first…

"They told me to make Sasuke hurt Naruto… so neither of them would want to go back to eachother…"

"Why'd you listen to them?"

Sai felt sick again and this time buried his face into his hands.

"They threatened to hurt Naruto themselves… physically and mentally… if I didn't…."

…**.**

Naruto picked up the photo and ripped off the half with him in it, pocketing Sasuke's half into his pocket, along with the note with the two tear drops at the bottom.

Naruto laughed coldly at himself for being so stupid to believe those tears, but he knew in his heart they were… he knew that dream… where Sasuke said 'I love you too dobe' was real… it wasn't a dream…

"This isn't your fault Sasuke…" he said, more to convince himself than anything else, "It's not your fault… and even if it was…"

"…I already told you teme, I'd always forgive you…" he said to himself, as he grabbed his coat and made for the apartment door.

…**.**

Sakura stared at Sai bewildered, she still couldn't understand. "Why Sai?" she asked, one more time, feeling tired.

Sai looked at her with a pained expression, "Because… I love Naruto too…"

…**.**

From a distance Falcon stood, watching the scene from afar; one watching Sasuke walk down the street, one watching the apartment as Naruto finally emerged, and one watching Sai as he and Sakura talked on the roof, all three ready at any moment to complete their mission; getting back their missing leader, and ensuring no one would come back to get him…

**(1) - .:Spoiler Warning:. Falcon is the name of Sasuke's gang (orignally called 'snake' and in some translations is refered to as 'eagle') and I did write early on that Sasuke believed Falcon would come and get him :P**

**So I hope I answered everyone's desire for a good 'redeeming quality' for Sai… though tecnically it's not a quality…. :P OH and today is my birthday!! (SWEET SIXTEEN!!) so yeah this was a birthday present from me (the birthday girl) to you lot…. Sorry it's sorta short, I was so busy with school and I didn't really know what else to write… :P**

**Thanks to my reviewers etc. you guys really do make my day, and I can't express how much I love receiving and reading reviews from people who really do like what I do… :)**

**Izolda**** – aww I made you cry, sowwy :P**

**Halskr**** – you're welcome, and haha, you seem to believe a lot of people deserve torture for their actions**

**SasoriXreborN**** – once again, another request to give Sai redeeming qualities… I tired guys!!**

**freexflyer**** – I listened to it, and yes it was quite hilarious, lol**

**Shashuko the Paisley Maiden**** – lol, I know, I think that might be a bit OOC (Naruto being that selfless) but I can't help myself, I need him to be that way for the relationships to work… otherwise no one would take any incentive :P**


	15. But if I'm without you

**Summary: I'm getting really tired of typing this thing…. Sasuke and Naruto fought again and Sasuke gets sick, so Naruto brings him back to Konoha, in the hopes that he'll want to stay.**

**Warning: Yaoi (SasuNaru), cursing, and maybe suggestive stuff later on… spoilers and OOCness… Um… angst…. and evil people who make me angry/sad inside… .:cries in a corner:.**

**Disclaimer: .:had to get extensive therapy from the gun-point trauma and comes back feeling normal:. Oh don't be silly, people like me can't own Naruto, I think I'll go solve the world's problems and be totally selfless, just like Naruto, who is SO not gay! .:gets hit in the head by a brick:. Was I doing something SasuNaru or Naruto-stealing related?**

**Chapter 15: But if I'm without you**

"Any news Karin?"

"No Suigetsu… go back now…"

"You don't want to hear _my_ news?"

"Why didn't you just come out and say you had something important to say?"

"Because I know it bothers you!"

"Just spit it out Suigetsu before I get mad…"

"Well I just thought you'd want to know that blondie is on the move…"

…**.**

"Damnit Sasuke where'd you go?" Naruto asked himself as he wandered about, looking this was and that, trying to find Sasuke.

_Gread idea kit, go out without a clue as to where you're going…_

"Well it's not exactly like he left a forwarding address Kyuubi…"

_Why don't you just get over it, I'd think it was pretty clear from that letter that he wants nothing to do with you anymore…_

"It's not clear to me, Sasuke's not like that… and I know I wasn't dreaming when he said it… when he said that he loved me…."

Kyuubi stayed silent after this comment and Naruto felt a small twinge of gratitude for the demon fox, but the feeling passed quickly.

Naruto pulled his jacket closer into his body and resisted the urge to shiver, the cold couldn't bother him now, not now.

"Alright Sasuke, I'm coming…"

…**.**

Sasuke wandered aimlessly for what felt like weeks. He felt like he wrote that letter days ago, like it was in a dream… he felt like what he said back there… like that hadn't only been about 3 hours ago, it had to have been longer…

He figured he should find his things… his sword, etc. that they'd taken from him when he was admitted into the hospital. He couldn't exactly attempt to get out of here in a pair of Naruto's grey sweatpants and a black t-shirt… that just really wasn't his style.

He stuffed his hands in his pockets and turned down a less inhabited street and began to make his way to the hospital, all the while a certain blond occupied his mind, and he wondered painfully if Naruto had already read the note… and he almost had a fleeting hope that Naruto would come after him and stop him… and understand everything…. But that wasn't likely, so Sauke simply dismissed it.

"I guess the only choice now is to leave…" he sighed, as he turned another corner and felt the only too familiar pain in his chest.

…**.**

Sai had made up his mind, it was up to him, and he made his choice.

"Are you sure you're ok with this?" Sakura asked, standing up behind him, from their spot on the roof.

"Positive, it was my own stupidity that caused this in the first place… if I get to Naruto first, then those bastards of Falcon will have to get through me first…"

"Yeah but from what you've said they made a pretty legit threat… you sure you want to do it alone?"

Sai caught the hint; she was offering to help; she was worried about Naruto too… and maybe even him, but he didn't care, this was way more personal than that…

"Positive! Sorry Sakura, this is my bond… and I gotta fix it… even if Naruto and Sasuke want nothing more to do with me…"

…**.**

_This is getting annoying Kit, we can't just wander the streets all night! Just think, where would Sasuke have gone?_

Naruto could hear and practically feel the anger and annoyance building up inside from Kyuubi, and he normally wouldn't care, but this time he knew Kyuubi was right, he had to think fast, or there'd be no Sasuke left to find….

"That's it!" Naruto shouted to himself, suddenly struck with an idea as to where Sasuke might be headed.

_What's it Kit?_

"He's leaving!"

_You sound happy about that…_

"Well no… but that means he'll need his stuff, and I know exactly where that is…"

…**.**

"And you're absolutely positve he's going after Sasuke?"

"Yeah Karin, how many times do I need to tell you?"

"Does he know where Sasuke is, or where he may be going?"

"If that stupid grin on his face is any indication than I'd say yes…"

"I didn't know you knew what indication meant…"

"Shut up…"

…**.**

Sasuke walked calmly towards the hospital, his feet knew where to take him which let his mind wander to other things... like Naruto…

He felt so stupid for letting this happen and looking back he could've just kicked Sai's ass and just not done anything… but somewhere deep down he knew their were more unspoken implications and if he hadn't agreed than Naruto might… then again he might be hurting anyway, Sasuke was to thank for that.

He figured that after this little… "adventure" he'd go back to Falcon, and carry out his mission to obtain the eight tailed fox and eventually destroy Konoha….

He blinked and his eyes widened as he suddenly remembered the deal… if he took the eight tails then 'he' was going to take…

"Naruto!" Sasuke said, not realizing he'd said it out loud.

"What about him?" came a light, almost sweet, but still unwelcome voice from behind him.

"Sakura?"

"In the flesh!"

…**.**

"So what's the plan?."

"Do you constantly feel the need to ask the obvious or are you really just that stupid?"

"I just know you hate it…"

"So you simply take delight at being a pain in the ass?"

"Nope!"

Karin gave Suigetsu a doubtful look, not remotely convinced of his innocence.

"I don't take delight in being a pain in the ass," he assured her, "it's just your ass I like to cause pain…"

…**.**

"What do you want?" Sasuke asked, sounding harsher than he meant to, though it was how he actually felt.

"Not much…" Sakura answered, walking beside him, "Just to figure out what the heck's going on between you Naruto and Sai, he's really lost you know…"

"And why should I give a damn about how he feels about all this, it's his fault…"

"You'd like to think that wouldn't you?…"

"What are you talking about Sakura?" Sasuke asked, feeling rather irked with her at the moment. He wanted to be alone with his thoughts… and now the alone part was sort of ruined…

"I'm just saying you should probably cut Sai some slack, he's hurting just as much as you are, if not more…"

"What do you mean…"

"I'm saying there's more at stake here than just how you and Naruto feel… think about that, OK? I mean I'm not saying I want you to change your whole outlook on the world or anything, I'm just saying you should try and think more about why he did it, you know his _reasons _that's all I'm saying…"

Sasuke kept walking as though indifferent but Sakura had seen the understanding flash through his eyes, if only for a moment, and she let it go.

"I'll see you later Sasuke…" she said sadly, "Much later by the looks of things…"

"Hn…" came the signiture reply.

…**.**

"Really though Karin, what's the plan?"

"I thought that'd be obvious, idiot, we're going to interfere… If Naruto gets to Sasuke we all know he'll convince him to stay, at least for a while longer, and unfortnately for us Naruto seems to have almost… "bewitched" Sasuke into doing just about anything he asks…"

"So we attack Naruto? Wouldn't that just make Sasuke mad at us?"

"So we make him side with us…" Karin said simply.

"You do realize this is Sasuke we're talking about right?"

"Obviously, since my intellectual levels far surpass your own…"

"I'm pretending to not hear you… but seriously, you gotta have a better plan than that…"

Karin sighed and began laying out the plan, plain and simple before Suigetsu. "Look, we need Sasuke to do what we say, and he'll do anything for Naruto so…" she leaned her head in towards him, as if in indication that he should finish.

"So… we get a hold of Naruto and Sasuke'll do whatever we tell him…"

"Well what do you know, there is a brain in that thick skull of yours…"

…**.**

Sasuke continued to make his way to the hospital and he could slowly see it increase in size as he came closer and closer.

He thought about what Sakura had said, and figured their probably was some higher plan in this than Sai's personal twisted feelings but he didn't care. He just wanted to leave and not have to think of Naruto or feel that familiar pain in his chest anymore.

He made his way to the storage room which he assumed would hold his belongings and thought nothing of what else might lay ahead inside that room.

"Hey Sasuke, you certainly took your time…"

…**.**

Sai ran for what felt like forever. He knew if he failed he'd never be able to face Naruto or himself again. He had to do it, he had to rescue Naruto's bond, that only broke because of him, which he only did because of that damn Falcon girl…

Sai stopped when he saw a diffferent member of the group, the tall almost sad looking one standing alone on a roof top, he seemed almost like he was waiting for someone.

"Oi!" he shouted, trying not to let the anger he truly felt creep into his voice.

The guy looked over at him, he saw the recognition flash in his eyes and then he turned back around.

"What do you want?" he asked calmly.

"Revenge…" Sai said clearly.

"Revenge is wrong…" the guy said, solemnly.

"I don't care, you and your bastard friends deserve it… Where is Sasuke and Where is Naruto?" Sai demanded, making what he wanted very clear in his statement.

"My guess would be the hospital…" the guy said simply, not seeming to care what information he gave out.

"The Hospital.?... What the Fuck did you guys do to them!?" Sai was furious and worried, though he didn't let that show.

"Nothing, Sasuke's probably fetching his belongings and Naruto's probably trying to talk him out of it…"

Sai blinked, not sure if he should believe him, but decided for it, what choice did he have.

"So where are your buddies?" Sai asked suspicously, feeling as though he already knew the answer.

Somewhere off in the distance the two heard a large crash and both jerked their heads in that direction… the direction of…

"The hospital… Naruto!"

Sai began to move forward but a large hand on his chest stopped him. He looked up at the guy and glared angrily, "Let me go!"

"Relax…so long as Sasuke complies with our wishes neither he or Naruto will come to any harm… so just relax…"

"Relax!? How can I relax!? What did that crash mean!?" Sai demanded, feeling an unfamiliar hatred and anger rise in his chest. Years without emotions can make you confused, and now Sai was feeling that confusion, along with all the other emotions. "What did it mean!?" he demanded again, a hint of nervousness creeping into his voice.

"It means Sasuke didn't comply…"

…**.**

"Well now how'd I know you'd show up here?" the mysterious voice asked from the shadows of the hospital storage room.

Sasuke perked up and stood erect, his senses on full alert, wondering who the voice could belong to.

"You're awful predictable Sasuke… I knew you'd want your old clothes back… but I didn't realize you'd be _that _eager… are my clothes really that ugly?"

The voice stepped out of the shadows and Naruto wore an obviously false expression of being offended.

"Naruto!?" Sasuke's shock was apparent but he quickly replaced it with a look of indifference, "I thought I told you I was through with you…"

Naruto shrugged and walked closer to Sasuke, who couldn't help but take a few steps back. He hated to admit it, to himself and to everyone else, but he was afraid of this confrontation, he couldn't keep acting like he hated Naruto because that just wasn't true… and he got this strange feeling that Naruto already knew it…

"You're such a teme… did you really think I'd let it go just like that?"

The honest answer was 'no' but Sasuke didn't dare admit that…

"Besides it's not like I wasn't going to forgive you, you fuckin' betrayed your whole village, I'm sure I could let a stupid, not to mention untrue, letter slip my notice…"

"Dobe…"

"Don't even Sasuke, you knew from the beginning that I'd forgive you… you've always known that…"

Sasuke blinked as he heard Naruto's tone slip from angry to sad, almost as though the thoughts in his head caused him pain, which they probably did, now that he thought about it.

"I'f I'm without you… If I don't have you…. That kind of life isn't worth living Sasuke, I want you and I _need _you and I'll do whatever it takes, even forgive you for all your stupid mistakes, if that means you'll stay with me, and I'm not stupid and neither are you, we both have known it all along…"

Sasuke didn't say anything, how could he. Here Naruto had laid his feelings flat out on the table and Sasuke still couldn't admit that he loved Naruto just as much as Naruto loved Sasuke.

Naruto was almost stupidly selfless when it came to Sasuke and that frustrated him more than anything, Naruto just kept forgiving him and forgiving him, what was he going to do when Sasuke didn't forgive himself? Or what if he messed up badly enough that Naruto didn't _want _to forgive him but did it anyway because that's what he promised?

Sasuke knew Naruto well enough to know that even if he hated too Naruto would always live up to his promises, no matter how stupid they were. Naruto meant everything to Sasuke and Sasuke was fully aware that Naruto felt the same for him but he knew that it couldn't happen that way.

"Leave it be Naruto, I need to leave…"

"I FUCKING KNOW SASUKE!" Naruto shouted, sounding sincerely offended, an unspoken accusation found in his words; Naruto seemed offended that Sasuke could accuse him of being too stupid to realize he was leaving.

"I knew you'd leave, and you knew I'd forgive you, but I'm asking you too wait… to stay with me, so we can wait till we're both ready when the time comes… and we both know it will…"

"Naruto I can't—"

"You can't or you _won't_?"

Now there was another question that Sasuke couldn't answer. How was he supposed to answer that kind of question.

"I won't…" he answered honestly.

Naruto seemed ready to say something, and Sasuke was afraid that he'd have to confront feelings he didn't want to face yet but he was saved by a small sound by the window.

Apparently Naruto heard it too because he closed his mouth and straightened up, his ears almost seeming to perk up as he tuned into his powerful fox hearing. "What was that?" he asked, his voice low and empty of emotion….

Naruto couldn't remember anything after he hit his head, he didn't even remember how he hurt his head. He remembered flashes of things, like a bunch of people, one a girl, he thought, he couldn't really tell, and the other a boy with a large sword.

He thought he remembered Sasuke shouting in protest about something, he sounded furious and Naruto almost remembered one of the two, maybe the boy… maybe it was the girl… well one of them objecting and shouting back defensivly.

He remembered trying to crawl away and being picked up again by a pair of strong arms.

He remembered Sasuke's quiet voice telling him not to worry and he'd straighten things out…

He remembered Sasuke and the girl and the boy arguing.

He remembered feeling numb… and feeling like he was falling…

He remembered his last thoughts being of Sasuke and then… Darkness…

**Sorry it took so long, I was swamped with school stuff and I had major writer's block… and still sort of do… I have some major ideas but no little fluff ideas… so if u have any cute SasuNaru moments you want me to write let me know and I'll put it in (not promising but I'll try). So yeah again I'm sorry it took so long, so to make it up to you guys it's pretty long… sorta… no matter how hard I try I can never get it to be all that long…**

**Anyway, sorry it's another cliff-hanger… I'm so mean, lol, I'll try and do better next time :) and yeah sorry if some people were a little OOC… I didn't do that on purpose but I needed them to say the things they did…. so yeah, again thanks for being so patient with me guys, and once again please give me ideas for fluff etc… thanks!**

**Thanks to my reviewers etc.**

**Freexflyer**** – aww u still hate him! NU! lol, I'm still mad at him too (even though it's sorta my fault that he did that….) and lol, yes fate IS a bitch, omg that's like the best quote I've ever heard… like ever (on FFN anyway…)**

**SasorixreborN**** – I'm glad you feel bad for him (that means I did my job) but yeah, I tried… :P and I'm really really genuinly happy that you love my story :)**


	16. Then I will feel so small

**Sorry about the delay, I'll explain myself at the end of the chapter (you're already impatient with me enough as it is!) so ON WITH THE STORY!!**

**Summary: I'm getting really tired of typing this thing…. Sasuke and Naruto fought again and Sasuke gets sick, so Naruto brings him back to Konoha, in the hopes that he'll want to stay.**

**Warning: Yaoi (SasuNaru), cursing, and maybe suggestive stuff later on… spoilers and OOCness (I is sorry!!! I tried so hard to keep Falcon in character but it was hard!)… Um… angst…. and evil people who make me angry/sad inside… .:cries in a corner:. Oh and uh fluff… because I listened to a bunch of really cute songs and they inspired me to give Naruto and Sasuke lots of fluff… so if you are distracted by fluff I'm sorry… it wouldn't go away 'till I wrote it :P**

**Disclaimer: If Naruto and Sasuke had sex in a forest and no one was around to hear them would ****Masashi Kishimoto still own them? Why yes he would, 'cause he's mean like that .:pouts:.**

**Chapter 16: Then I Will Feel so Small**

_Slam! Sasuke watched horrified as large sword came into contact with Naruto's head, and he fell forward, clearly losing conciousness… fast._

_He looked towards the attacker angrily. "Who are you and what the hell do you want?" he demanded, letting his rapidly increasing anger creep into his voice, despite his normally calm facade._

"_Sasuke you offend, you don't remember me?" the voice asked, mock hurt in his voice._

"_Suigetsu?" Sasuke asked, shocked as the boy came out of the shadows, stepping away from Naruto and putting the large sword away._

"_At your service! … who's the loser?" he asked, nodding his head towards Naruto, who was attempting to slowly lift himself off the floor._

"_Loser?" Sasuke asked, his anger returning to replace his temporary surprise. "You bastard, what the fuck were you trying to gain from hurting Naruto?"_

"_Sasuke, dearest, I thought that much would be obvious to someone as intelligent as you…" Sasuke turned and glared at the new comer, "Karin…" Sasuke spat._

"_Yes?" she responded, a small smirk fleeting across her lips. "You need something?"_

"_What's the meaning of this?" he demanded, ignoring her sarcasm and pointing towards Naruto, who still seemed stuck in a void between conciousness and uncounciousness. "What the fuck were you trying to do?" he demanded again, glaring at her, until her smirk fualtered._

"_When you didn't come back we grew worried, did you really think we wouldn't come looking for you?" she asked, her expression just as serious as his. _

"_You should've left well enough alone…" beofre he could stop himself the image of Sai smirking popped into his mind, and was prelaced by Naruto… looking lost and hurt, and that was replaced by a letter that he himself had written._

"_You told him to do it…" Sasuke said outloud, though more to himself than anyone else. "You made Sai do that to Naruto and me…" he turned back to her and glared harder than before at this new discovery, "You bitch! You did that to us!"_

" '_Us'!?" Suigetsu scoffed, both Karin and Sasuke turned to look at him. "You're the one who fell for it and tried to leave your little boyfriend here…"_

_Sasuke's glare hardened further as he tried to hide the small blush that had crept onto his face, but he said nothing._

"_Well if you're not interested…" he said, a smirk on his lips, as he began to walk over to Naruto, "That means it's up for the taking right?"_

_He walked over to Naruto and stood inbetween him and Suigetsu, absolute fury practically exuding from his body, almost to the point of visibility as he glared at Suigetsu, who now crept back, holding his hands up defensivly. "Relax Sasuke, I was only joking."_

"_Don't you dare talk about Naruto like that…" Sasuke growled, his voice low. "Relax Sasuke…" Karin intruded before any more damage could be done. "We're taking you home now, and if you come quietly nothing's going to happen to you… or Naruto."_

_It took Sasuke a few moments before he could hide the shock on his face. "What the fuck are you going to do to him if I don't?" He asked, quickly recovering from the shock and letting his anger return to him once more._

"_Use your imagination Sasuke…" Karin said harshly._

_He growled at her, tearing his eyes away, momentarily, from Naruto and Suigetsu. "Filthy Bitch."_

"_Tsk. Tsk." Suigetsu scolded playfully, "Wouldn't want to get us angry now Sasuke…"_

"_Try me," Sasuke spat at him, returning his attention to him and Naruto. _

"_Is that an invitation," Suigetsu spat back, a smirk beginning to play again across his face._

"_Come now Sasuke, let us not have these lovers spats…" Karin sighed, dramatizing her exasperation with the two of them. "Take your 'precious friend' and let us be on our way."_

_Sasuke didn't make a single move and he continued to glare at Suigetsu who smirked back, as though enjoying the moment._

"_If you won't I will…" Karin warned, "Or Suigetsu…" Suigetsu made a slight move closer towards Naruto's body earning him a sound fist into his stomach._

"_If you lay one more finger on him…" Sasuke whispered harshly, leaving the threat open ended. Suigetsu smirked, despite being doubled over, his arms wrapped around his stomach, and made a dramatic motion, indicating that Naruto was open for the taking._

"_If I come nothing happens to him?" Sasuke asked, not bothering to look at Karin, to whom the question was directed._

"_Yes."_

"_And I can keep him with me." _

"_So long as he isn't too… 'distracting' for you."_

_Sasuke nodded and stepped towards Naruto who was now attempting to crawl away. Instinct taking over in his near uncouncious state._

_Sasuke lifted him into his arms and held him close to his chest, defensively._

"_Don't worry Naruto, I'll straighten this out… I'll make it right… for both of us, I promise…"_

_Suigetsu sighed dramatically, "Ah true love… But you know Sasuke, you shouldn't make promises you can't keep…"_

_Sasuke whipped around, though careful not to hurt Naruto in the process. "One of these days you'll find it rather difficult to talk with your head so far up your ass…"_

"_Ooh Sasuke, that hurts." Suigetsu replied sarcastically._

_Sasuke was distracted from retorting from a groan from the hardly concious Naruto. "Naruto you all right?" he asked, his voice quiet, calm, and low. "Tired… Falling…" came the hoarse reply._

"_Go to sleep now Naruto… I promise I'll make it better…"_

_Sasuke watched as Naruto faded quickly into sleep, losing all sense of counciousness, unaware of any of his surroundings, unaware of anything, or so he thought. _

_It wasn't far into his "falling" that Naruto uttered the worst word he could have said. The word that Sasuke would find most painful, the word that meant Naruto didn't blame him, still. That meant he'd have to face more guilt because it was his fault._

_And yet Naruto still said that word, that one word that ripped Sasuke's heart right out of his chest. The one word that made him carry Naruto out of the room with his hated group. That made him agree to return with them. That made him feel every desire to protect his best friend. Because his best friend said it, that one word, that one word so weakly and so sadly that he could never say no, never deny him. The one worst word he could have said._

"_Sasuke…"_

…_**.**_

Naruto awoke with the most massive headache he thought he'd ever felt in his life. "Nnn…" he groaned as he sat up from the filthy, hard, and cold stone floor. The room was dark, but their was light enough to make out… nothing. The room was devoid of furniture, of life, of sound, of anything and of everything.

"You awake?" came a calm voice from a dark corner. He was wrong, their _was_ life in this empty place he would now probably be forced to call "home."

"I suppose…" he answered, his voice quiet and rough from lack of use. "Good," the voice responded, genuine relief apparent in the otherwise passive tone. "You've been out for days…"

"Days?"

"Yes, seven to be exact."

"Who's counting?" Naruto couldn't hide the curiosity in his voice.

"Just a friend," Sasuke answered, stepping out of the shadows of the corner and walking over to where Naruto now sat.

"Sasuke!" Naruto cried out, happier than Sasuke would have liked, given the situation. Naruto leapt forward off the floor despite the pain that now accompanied every movement he made. His head ached but he didn't care as he continued forward until he fell roughly into Sasuke.

"Yes, Naruto, I'm here…" Sasuke said softly as Naruto hugged him tightly from their new, some what uncomfortable position, and began nuzzling his chest gently.

"Where is here, exactly?" Naruto asked from Sasuke's chest, his voice muffled slightly.

"That's information I'm not allowed to disclose."

Naruto blinked and looked up at Sasuke from his position. Sasuke's face was passive and his body erect, and he made no movement of familiarity towards Naruto.

"Something wrong?" Naruto asked, ignoring the lack of information he'd obtained. "You look upset…" _Alright, not so much upset as utterly and completely indifferent and for Sasuke, well only lately, that's usually not good…_

"Do you still not hate me?" Sasuke asked calmly, his face still passive.

"Of course I don't hate you Sasuke…" Naruto replied, almost irked at Sasuke for making him repeatedly express his feelings.

"You should…" Sasuke said as he moved away from Naruto and sat against the wall.

"What do you think I should hate you for?" Naruto asked, following him and sitting beside him, allowing himself to lean into Sasuke.

"For getting you into this mess…"

"But you promised you'd fix it…" Naruto said, recalling a faint dream… or perhaps it was a memory from the other day at the hospital, it didn't mater, Sasuke still promised he'd fix it…

Sasuke blinked and looked at Naruto strangely. "What?"

"Forget it," _I probably dreamed that anyway…_ "It doesn't matter, I'm just glad you're here… and I _don't_ hate you… honestly Sasuke, why would I hate you?"

"I keep fucking up your life, you had enough problems without me skrewing things up worse for you…

"I just make things worse and worse…I mess things up whenever I'm with you."

Naruto shook his head and smiled at Sasuke with an expression that Sasuke couldn't quite understand.

"But I'm still with you, which makes everything just a little bit less worse."

Naruto kept that loving smile on his face and Sasuke could feel the guilt swell up in his chest at the thought that he didn't deserve that kind of love from anyone, especially not someone like Naruto.

"That's just stupid…" Sasuke remarked, trying to hide the faint blush that had risen on his cheeks. "Or are you always just that stupid?"

Naruto just grinned at him, in his usual goofy way, and he leaned in closer. "No, only when I'm with you!"

Sasuke had to look away when he felt the heat quickly rush to his face. He remained silent, which Naruto took to be a bad sign, and he stood up and began to walk away. "I get it…" he said solemnly.

"Get what?" Sasuke asked as he instinctivly grabbed at Naruto's hand, holding him back.

"You're done talking, and you want me to go away…"

"Why would I want you to go away?"

This time it was Naruto's turn to blush and look away. "You always wanted me to go away… and when I didn't you did…"

Sasuke sighed and pulled back gently on Naruto's hand till he came back to the wall, and Sasuke himself stood up. "If I wanted you to go away I'd tell you."

He leaned in, still holding tight to Naruto's hand. "And I don't believe I said any such thing…" Naruto's face turned a furious shade of red but Sasuke ignored it. "Did I Naruto? Did I tell you to go away?"

"N-no, but you—"

Sasuke leaned in further despite Naruto's growing protests, "No… so why would you want to go away?"

"Sasuke I don't think this is a good—"

"Why would you go away Naruto?"

"Sasuke I really think this is a bad idea…" Naruto's voice became more and more strained, and his blush grew more furious.

"Because if you were to really ask me, I'd say you should stay, right here, with me…" Sasuke moved his hand from Naruto's hand and wrapped both his arms around him, "…forever…"

"Well I don't know about you but Naruto certainly may stay for that long…" came an almost entertained voice from the door. It's figure leaned casually against the frame and a dark smirk spread across his lips.

"I told you we shouldn't have been doing that…" Naruto replied weakly, his face completely red from being discovered… and from the situation in general…

"Suigetsu I thought I specifically said I didn't want to be disturbed…" Sasuke growled bitterly, letting go of Naruto and walking towards the door.

Suigetsu laughed cooly, "I'm almost afraid to know what you would have done to your poor boyfriend anyway…"

Naruto's face turned a shade of red so deep Sasuke hadn't even known it existed, and he fell to his knees, his headache returning with full force. Sasuke began to walk towards the door, trying to remain calm and not do the very thing Naruto had just done.

"Karin wants you for dinner anyway…" Suigetsu admitted, shrugging as Sasuke stomped passed him.

"Tell her to fuck off…"

Suigetsu smirked evily, and Sasuke feared what comment could possibly be coming next, and for good reason…

"You're the only one doing any 'fucking' around here Sasuke…"

**haha, I just had to end it that way… had that line in my head this whole time (because it's so true in every story I read XP) Well I want to appologize for that taking so so so so so so so so long my personal (rather messed up) life got in the way… u know between boys and "mean girls" and grades and AP's and SAT prep etc. I've been swamped with more than I could possibly have been ready to handle… well that's more than you probably wanted to know about my life, sorry ******

**anyway, after months of waiting here you are… a little longer than usual just as an "I'm sorry" prezzie ^^ Though sorry there was no Sai, he's next chapter I promise (I have many a plan for him… actually I only have a couple of plans… but if I say that maybe you all will actually like me again! :D)**

**thanks as usual to all my reviewrs, please don't hate me ^^;;**

**Shashuko the Paisley Maiden**** – he is a silly boy isn't he? If he just did what all the fan-girls told him to do he wouldn't get into such problems :p Nobody kidnapping Naruto is EVER a good thing, though that is always a plus ;)**

**Halskr**** – I'll be sure to tell Sai that, I'm sure he'll be grateful… or terrified…**

**Freexflyer**** – ok there you go I gave you a protective Sasuke… or a bitchy Sasuke… that's open for interpretation… ^^;; and I think u spelled it right… I'd have to ask my bffl… she's jewish…**

**SasoriXreborN**** – omg, logged on!! .:gasp:. And yay, somebody feels bad for him, wait till I tell him!! And yeah, I think Kyuubi's cooler when he and Naruto have their little spats (I hate fanfics where Kyuubi just kinda sits there and is like "rawr, I iz demon fox!") so in my story they iz always "spatting" ******


	17. And if you have to go

**Well at the risk of people getting mad at me… I'm back!... sort of… I make NO promises to anybody, I'm in college, I'm busy, I have a life… not to mention I've stopped following Naruto so there are going to be a TON of inaccuracies… please don't tell me about them… please! I've been updating this pic (so far I've updated chapters 1-4, so I can add some new stuff, get rid of some old stuff, and just edit the story into something more… useable :P … please feel free to go back and reread! And check back for more updates!**

**Summary: Oh please, not again… if you're still reading the summary go back and read the whole rest of the story you lazy bums :P**

**Warning: People are a bit OOC… I'm sorry, my story, and I gotta move things along somehow, right? RIGHT!**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto and not Masashi Kishimoto this hiatus would've pissed a lot more people off…. So maybe it's a really good thing I don't in retrospect….**

**Chapter 17: And if you have to go**

For what felt like the millionth time in the last few days Naruto felt like vomiting. Maybe it was being trapped in this "dungeon" of a room with only Sasuke for company every couple of days, maybe it was these sick people who had him trapped in here, maybe it was the food they were serving him, if it could even be called food, or maybe it was Naruto's own body odor, as he hadn't been allowed a shower in the 3 weeks he'd been here…. Yes it was probably his body odor.

"Hey!" he called out, though he didn't really expect anybody to answer him.

"What?" came a clipped, and rather unexpected reply.

Biting back his shock Naruto recovered fairly quickly, "Can I get some basic hygiene here?"

There was a fairly cold laugh from the shadows, and the figure quickly exited the room, much to Naruto's confusion.

Minutes passed without incident until Naruto heard Sasuke's drawling voice from outside the "dungeon".

"What the hell do you want, Suigetsu?"

"It's not what I want, really… but I think you'll be interested in giving your boyfriend a shower." Next came a silence dripping with awkward tension.

"What?"

"Well there's no way we'd leave him in the bathroom alone, all kinds of shenanigans could happen in there! So I figured you'd be the most willing, and quite frankly the least painful to my person, candidate for giving him a shower…."

Naruto sat where he was a blushed furiously. How come he couldn't shower alone? It's not like he needed help! He'd been able to function just fine since he'd woken up, and it's not like he could escape in the bathroom!

"Fine."

Naruto darkened more when Sasuke came out of the shadows and grabbed Naruto's hand, yanking him up, probably with more force than he'd intended, off the ground. Suigetsu, Naruto was really starting to dislike the guy, came over and tied Naruto's hands behind his back, rather forcefully. "No funny business in the shower," he commented, his usual smirk gracing his face, "We've got stuff for you to shave with and bottles and what not, for your own safety as well as ours."

Sasuke rolled his eyes and pushed Naruto out of the room. He'd been rather forceful and abrasive since their first meeting, Naruto turned a furious shade of pink just at the thought. _"Because if you were to really ask me, I'd say you should stay, right here, with me, forever"_

"Naruto," Sasuke sighed, as they neared the bathroom, "Please try and retain some of your normal color, it's a little embarrassing."

"Shut up, teme!" Naruto retorted quickly. He was actually rather peeved at Sasuke for treating him so coldly, hadn't he been the one telling Sasuke to stop before they got caught? It wasn't like he'd done anything wrong, and Sasuke must have some idea of how Naruto felt, how could he be acting this stupid and indifferent and cold?

Without realizing it, caught up in his own thoughts, the two of them had reached the bathroom and Sasuke quickly shut and locked the door. He moved to turn on the water and as soon as the noise of the water had picked up he immediately hugged Naruto. "I'm so sorry," he whispered, breathily, into Naruto's ear. The warm breath felt comforting in some strange way and Naruto relaxed. "Get in the shower," Sasuke commanded abruptly, his voiced raised a bit in an attempt, Naruto assumed, to make it heard over the shower.

"In my clothes?" Naruto couldn't help but ask, with eyebrow raised. He saw Sasuke's eye twitch and his cheeks pinken, which in turn made Naruto his, now, usual shade of pink. Sasuke began to help maneuver out of his rank clothing, made far more difficult by the ropes around Naruto's hands, and pretty soon the two of them were naked. Naruto figured that Sasuke had obviously decided it would be fairly counter-productive for Naruto to return to the same disgusting clothes Sasuke called out for Suigetsu to go grab some new ones, he heard shuffling outside and could only assume he had complied.

The two of them stepped into the hot shower and let the warm water rain down on them, it felt wonderful to have the filth washed away. Naruto sighed heavily and contentedly and tried to move his hands up to was his hair… before realizing he was still tied up. He looked at Sasuke, who had an odd expression on his face.

"Say um… do you think you could give me a hand?" he inclined his head towards the soap and shampoo and Sasuke seemed to break out of his little trance slightly, reaching a hand over and grabbing the shampoo bottle first.

…..

"_Hey Sasuke, c'mere!" Sasuke didn't particularly care for the expression on Suigetsu's face as he grabbed his hand and began pulling him towards Naruto's room. This could _not_ be good, he mused, thinking back to the horrible incident that was the night Naruto woke up and every tortured and, he fumed, monitored visit since then._

"_What the hell do you want, Suigetsu?" he asked, venom dripping with every word. He wondered briefly whether or not they were close enough for Naruto to hear them but didn't think about it for very long._

"_It's not what I want, really… but I think you'll be interested in giving your boyfriend a shower." It took a considerable amount of will power to _not_ look utterly shocked at this statement and he remained silent slightly longer than he'd intended to._

"_What?" he finally asked._

"_Well there's no way we'd leave him in the bathroom alone, all kinds of shenanigans could happen in there! So I figured you'd be the most willing, and quite frankly the least painful to my person, candidate for giving him a shower…."_

_The two stared at each other, one with a rather sadistic smirk and the other with a look of daggers. Oh if only looks could kill, Sasuke briefly mused, before finally sighing, understanding that the best way for this to happen was to simply comply._

"_Fine."_

_As they entered Naruto's… "holding pen" he noticed the blond blushing slightly, and wondered vaguely again if he had been able to hear the conversation outside. He reached out for Naruto's hand and pulled him up, to be honest he may have pulled a little too hard, it looked like it hurt, but he was so fucking pissed off he found he didn't really care. Suigetsu walked up from behind him and tied Naruto's hands behind his back. Both Sasuke and Naruto looked at him incredulously._

"_No funny business in the shower," he explained, with his usual smirk, "We've got stuff for you to shave with and bottles and what not, for your own safety as well as ours."_

_As they walked away, both of them feeling fairly annoyed if Naruto's face and Sasuke's own feelings were any indications, Sasuke couldn't help but notice that Naruto was continually turning a deeper shade of blush. His eyes fleeting back to see that Suigetsu was following a slight ways behind them. "Naruto," Sasuke sighed, as they neared the bathroom, "Please try and retain some of your normal color, it's a little embarrassing." _

_The quick quip of "Shut up, teme!" hadn't really been expected and Sasuke couldn't help feeling a slight stab of remorse for the way he'd been treating Naruto but there wasn't much that could be done, this was for Naruto's protection as well as his own._

_When they reached the bathroom Sasuke made sure to lock Suigetsu out, which he was sure annoyed the latter greatly. After he'd turned on the fairly noisy shower he went to hug the still incapacitated Naruto. He felt every bit of regret, remorse, pain, and any other feeling he didn't normally feel shoot through him as he whispered in Naruto's ear, trying so hard to keep his voice from shaking too much "I'm so sorry." He could feel the blonde relax a lot and slight wave of relief washed over him._

_His brief moment of joy was interrupted by the image of Suigetsu standing outside the door. "Get in the shower," Sasuke barked, trying very hard to make sure they were heard. "In my clothes?" Sasuke's eye twitched and he felt himself blush. He hadn't thought about that. Oh god, Naruto, _his_ Naruto, he couldn't help but think, _naked_! _

_He awkwardly set about removing Naruto's clothes, as well as his own, both of them turning darker by the moment. He called out absentmindedly for Suigetsu to grab Naruto some fresh clothes._

_He barely noticed when the two of them were completely in the shower, he was trying far too hard to_ not_ ravish Naruto right there with his eyes. He wanted so much to touch that body, memorize it, and whisper so that only Naruto could hear, that everything would be alright. He knew he could never keep such a promise but he wanted to say it to the blonde dobe all the same. He didn't notice when Naruto's hands jerked awkwardly as he tried to move them and he looked at Sasuke with a sort of pleading expression._

_His blissful trance and rather… mature train of thought were quickly brought to an end by said blonde. "Say um… do you think you could give me a hand?" Naruto was obviously indicating the shampoo and soap and Sasuke decided it would be best for him to _not_ touch Naruto's body yet, so he grabbed the shampoo and prayed to some non-existent God that his thoughts would get pure fast, or he felt his body might betray him._

…

Marveling at his incredible self-restraint in the shower Sasuke quickly finished cleaning off the blonde and the two boys returned from the shower after about 20 minutes to find a new set of clothes outside the door. Sasuke finally removed Naruto's bindings and the two of them dressed quickly, neither speaking to the other, and both still a fairly dark shade of red.

Realizing with a rush of embarrassment that he could have removed those in the bathroom and nobody really would've cared… meaning Sasuke wouldn't have had to clean Naruto off… _maybe it was better that he'd waited_, he couldn't help but think selfishly as he finished pulling on the last of his clothing.

He walked Naruto back to his room and was getting ready to leave when he felt a warm and still slightly wet hand tug lightly at his clothing. "Do you have to go?" Naruto whispered, calmly. "You never really visit anymore." Sasuke had been to the room but he knew that wasn't what Naruto had meant.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, genuinely, as he slightly rubbed Naruto's cheek with his own warm and slightly wet hand. "I'm so sorry." Sorry seemed to be the only thing he'd been able to say lately. He was. He was so unbelievably sorry for everything he'd done to Naruto.

"I know." And the stupid idiot still didn't hate him. He hugged Naruto again, much lighter this time and the two just stood there and breathed. Those two minutes were the best he'd had in weeks and Sasuke couldn't help but be grateful he'd get them at all. Naruto, _his _Naruto, he couldn't help but think again.

"My, my, isn't _this _just peachy," came the dead pan voice of Karin from the edge of the darkness.

"Be careful, people might think you're a lollipop with a stick that far up your ass," Naruto growled from Sasuke's chest, earning him a shocked expression from both Karin and Sasuke.

"What?" She asked darkly.

"Leave it be," Sasuke ordered, letting Naruto go and heading for the edge of the room. "Good night, Naruto." He said gently to the blonde, who continued to stand where he had been left.

"If you have to go…" Naruto began, and Sasuke couldn't help but be reminded of a conversation they'd had in the hospital… that seemed like an eternity ago, and he would give almost anything to be back in that room, with the dobe in that stupid chair and all of their latest problems so far behind them. "If you have to go can you just promise that you'll come back soon!"

That hadn't been what he'd expected but he couldn't help smiling gently at the idiot. "For you, dobe? Always." And with that he left the room.

**I'm so sorry (as Sasuke said repeatedly) for taking so long, you all deserve so much more than 2,000 words and I'm sorry I can't give you more for now…. To anyone who wanted the shower scene to go further than it did… as much as I love reading that stuff I can NOT write that stuff… sorry, look elsewhere… do they even have showers in the Naruto universe? They have to get clean somehow right? …. I don't think they have lollipop's either but I just HAD to use that line XD **

**Thanks to everybody who's still here and to anybody who's joined along the way, I'll try and update, but like I said that is so hard for me right now, but I will try….**


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